Offensive Innocence
by Whatsername Lambert
Summary: After they both survive a vicious homophobic attack, Blaine is left without his memory and Kurt is left trying to figure out why some people can't tolerate love. / Klaine, obviously.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a result of my craving to write my first Klaine multichapter. (And by "multi," I mean "more than two.") Plus, I felt like writing something really deep/emotional/heartwrenching/(insert synonym for those words here). Soooo I came up with this.**

This story is rated M just for the sheer fact that it includes this first chapter. This chapter is pretty graphic and intense with lots of violence and homophobic slurs (which are used only for literary effect; I do not condone any of the graphic events depicted at all). After this, it all gets better, so keep that in mind.

I don't own Glee or CrissColfer. Unfortunately.

* * *

OFFENSIVE INNOCENCE

Chapter 1

It was the most cliché date ever, but it's not like I cared. In that moment, there was no place I would have rather been then exactly where I was - in the back row of the movie theater with Blaine, wrapped in his arms, making out in the darkness.

I couldn't even remember the name of the movie we were supposed to be watching - what movie we'd _paid_ to come in here and see. I was too occupied with other things. Things like the fact that Blaine's tongue was snaking into my mouth, brushing against mine. Things like how I was practically in his lap, on top of him. It wasn't often that we could do things like this in public. Usually, we couldn't even walk down the street holding hands without getting sneers and jibes from rude onlookers. But here in the darkness, nobody was even paying attention to us. Besides, I felt so safe in his arms...it almost felt like nobody could hurt us.

"Mmmm," Blaine murmured into my mouth, pulling me closer against him as I shivered. "You taste so good, baby, you're so...,"

He trailed off as he deepened the kiss, a quiet moan escaping from his throat. "...fucking _hot_," he finally finished.

"Well, well, well." I smirked, pulling away from the kiss just a tiny bit. "I never thought you could be reduced to such language."

Blaine smiled his beautiful smile that I loved so much and kissed the tip of my nose. "Only you, Kurt," he whispered. "You do things to me that nobody else can."

My heart stopped - it was one of those nobody's-ever-said-something-like-that-to-me-before moments. I didn't know what to say, but suddenly my mouth was aching to feel his lips again. I leaned in closer.

"You talk too much," I giggled, letting my tongue brush against his bottom lip _just_ a bit.

"Touché." Blaine smirked a little bit as he wrapped his arms around my neck, pulling me feverishly into the kiss.

We would have stayed like that forever, but before long, the lights in the theater were coming back on and our fellow patrons were starting to disperse from their seats. I reluctantly extricated myself from Blaine and took his hand as we stood up and deliriously made our way out of the theater, tossing our uneaten popcorn in the trash on our way out.

I hadn't realized how much I was sweating until we stepped outside into the cool December night. I smiled to myself and leaned my head against Blaine's shoulder as we headed across the parking lot to his car, finding it kind of funny that I'd managed to work up this much of a sweat over a movie - but then again, it's not like we'd been watching much of the movie, anyway.

I was happy. And that's why, when I heard a caustic voice calling, "Hey there, faggots!" in our general direction, I didn't even flinch. I heard things like that all the time; I wasn't going to let it bring me down. Not when I was walking hand-in-hand with the most perfect boy in the world.

But we had to stop cold in our tracks when a group of three or four tough-looking men - one of whom, I assumed, had been the owner of the voice I'd heard - stepped in front of us, blocking our way. I looked at Blaine, whose face was surprisingly calm, despite the fact that my eyes were probably wide with fear. Before I knew it, a pair of strong arms that did not belong to my boyfriend were wrapped around me and Blaine's hand was forced away from mine.

"So you're the two _fags_ who were sucking on each others' disgusting faces while we were trying to watch the movie," the man who was restraining me sneered, his face red and twisted with rage. I glanced frantically around for Blaine and finally saw him a few feet away from me, being crushed by the arms of one of the other men, struggling fruitlessly to break free.

"Yes," I heard Blaine's voice respond. His tone was even, emotionless. "We were."

"What makes you think you have the right to do that?" one of our attackers - I had closed my eyes, not wanting to look at any of their faces - roared. "_What_?"

I blinked back the tears that threatened to leak out of my eyes. There was no way I would let any of these Neanderthals see me cry. Before I spoke, I opened my eyes and looked right at Blaine. "Because he's my boyfriend, and I care about him more than anything in the world." I tried to keep my voice as calm as Blaine's had been, which took quite a bit of effort. But despite the shakiness of my voice, Blaine gave me a tiny smile, and I knew he'd heard me.

The man restraining me roared something unintelligible and before I knew it, I felt myself being dragged into the alley behind the movie theater. I glanced around for Blaine in quiet desperation, and when I couldn't see him, I called out his name in a broken voice.

"Shut the fuck up, you disgusting little fag." A grimy hand was clamped over my mouth. "Your _Blaine_ isn't-"

"Kurt!" A familiar voice, one that was always music to my ears, cried from somewhere across the alley in the darkness. I couldn't see or breathe or even move, but despite all this, when I heard his voice, I smiled.

But a second after I heard him call my name, my smile turned to a wince as I heard a strangled cry of pain. It broke my heart to hear him being hurt like that, knowing there was nothing I could do to help him...

The hand over my mouth was no longer there, so I called back to let him know I'd heard him. "Blaine, I..."

"I said, shut _up_!" The arms around me seemed to constrict even tighter, and before I knew it, a sharp object that could have only been a knife was plunged into my back, near my right shoulder blade. Under any other circumstances, I imagined the pain would have been unbearable, but not now. Now, I was too numb.

The object I'd been stabbed with left my back, and my attacker held it up in front of my face. Sure enough, it was a knife, glistening in my own blood. As he spoke, he pressed the cold blade against my neck. "You say one more word and I'll slit your fucking throat," he growled. "Got that?"

The only thing I could do was nod. I could feel the blood soaking through to the back of my shirt. I couldn't even make sense of what was going on, but I felt myself being dragged further down the alley. My feet suddenly left the ground and I was lifted up, then slammed back down into what felt like a tight, constricting cylinder. The slam of metal against metal over my head rang in my ears, and I kept my eyes closed, not even daring to move until I heard one of the men's voices call, "C'mon, let's get the fuck outta here," followed by retreating footsteps.

After a few minutes during which I hadn't even allowed myself to breathe, I carefully opened my eyes and looked around the tight space into which I was crunched. Tight, metal, cylindrical, foul-smelling. I'd been shoved into a trash can.

With my good shoulder, I slammed against the side of the can a few times in an attempt to tip it over. After a few hits, it fell to the asphalt and the lid clattered off. I crawled out, ignoring how painful it felt to make any movement, and focused on my next mission: finding Blaine.

"Blaine?" I called tentatively, not sure if our attackers were still near. "Where are you?"

"Over here," a hoarse voice called, and my heart immediately broke at how forlorn he sounded. "By the Dumpster."

I crawled across the alley towards the large rectangular object I assumed to be the Dumpster, although I couldn't see very well in the darkness. Sure enough, Blaine was slumped over next to the trash receptacle, leaning against the cool brick wall of the building.

"Can't move..._ow_," he groaned as I sat next to him, taking him in my arms and holding his head against my chest. He had a nasty gash near his scalp, and blood was trickling down over his skin, staining the entire left side of his face except for a few clean tracks through which tears had fallen. It was clear just from looking at him that he was in much worse shape than I was. Still, as he lay here broken, he was still impossibly beautiful.

"Blaine," I whispered, looking down into his eyes. Somewhere in the distance, I could hear the sound of sirens - someone who had been in the parking lot must have called 911. Blaine looked up at me, and it broke my heart to realize that I could practically see the life leaving him. "No matter what...happens to us tonight, I love you. I want you to know that...no, I _need _you to know that. I love you, Blaine."

It was the first time I'd ever said those words to him. I hadn't exactly envisioned this as the ideal setting in which to say them, but he had to know before it was too late.

"Oh, Kurt," Blaine sighed, pressing one hand against my chest as he struggled to reach his face up closer to mine. I met him halfway and kissed him, fresh tears forming in my eyes as I tasted blood on his lips.

"I love you so much." Blaine's voice was almost inaudible through his tears. He leaned his head against my chest again, and inhaled a shaky breath before his eyes drifted closed.

I could feel his heart slowing down, his breaths coming few and far between as a rescue squad composed of ambulances and police cars raced into the alleyway. I cried out in protest as one of the paramedics lifted Blaine's possibly-lifeless body out of my arms and placed him on a stretcher, but said no more as I was loaded onto a stretcher of my own and lifted into one of the ambulances.

As the vehicle raced through the streets of Lima, presumably to the hospital, one of the paramedics leaned down close to me and started speaking, but I couldn't even make sense of what they were saying. The only thing that mattered right now was Blaine. How far away was his ambulance from mine? Was he even still alive?

The paramedic stopped talking and looked at me, probably expecting a response, which I couldn't give. The only word that escaped my lips was my boyfriend's whispered name, accompanied by a single tear that rolled down my cheek as I closed my eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**There's a really good chance I won't be able to update this until Sunday. (I might have time to write a little bit tomorrow, "might" being the operative word here.) In case I don't, merry Christmas to everyone! :)**

Chapter 2

It was amazing how one nurse's use of the word _if_ could send me into a state of such uncertainty. I had been in the recovery room at the hospital, drowsily waking up from a surgery procedure during which I'd received several internal stitches in the muscles through which the knife had been plunged. Even in my stupor, I didn't care about my seemingly minor injuries - I wanted to know how Blaine had turned out.

"He broke his left leg, and he suffered a serious head injury," the nurse explained to me. "He's in a coma now...if he ever wakes up, there's a very large chance he'll have severe amnesia."

_If_ he ever wakes up.

In that case, my presumptions were right - a couple internal stitches, a broken tailbone from the force of being shoved into the trash can, and being restricted to bed rest for at least the next two weeks were nothing compared to Blaine's condition. Other than getting knocked out for the surgery, I hadn't slept at all since the attack, and I knew I never would if I kept worrying about Blaine. So I got my dad to pull a few strings with the kind folks at the hospital, and they put the two of us into one of the facility's few double rooms. I was confined to a bed near the door; a few feet away from me, Blaine slept peacefully in his coma, hooked up to a complicated-looking heart monitor machine. It beeped quietly every time his heart beat, politely reminding me that he was still alive.

Even with him so close to me, I still couldn't sleep. All I could do was stare at him with uncried tears pooling up in my eyes, with that single two-letter word hanging as a dark cloud of doubt over my consciousness.

_If_.

I wondered if he would ever open his eyes again. Right now, I would give anything just to stare into those beautiful twin pools of hazel, knowing that the boy looking back at me loved me and accepted me exactly as I was. Blaine was the only person I'd ever known to whom I could tell anything shamelessly, looking straight into his eyes. It killed me to think that I might never get to experience that sense of fearlessness again, since I knew nobody but Blaine could do that to me.

I wondered if I would ever kiss him again. He was the first and only person whose kisses had ever meant something to me. I still remembered our very first kiss like it was yesterday, and every kiss since then had seemed just as magical as the first. As I lay there in my hospital bed in a state of sweet nostalgia, my heart suddenly shattered when I remembered that the last time I'd kissed him, I hadn't tasted anything but blood. What I would give to be able to kiss him right now and just taste _Blaine_...

I wondered if he'd ever smile again. Even from the very first moment I'd met him, I'd known that Blaine had the most beautiful smile of anybody I'd ever met. When we'd started dating, I couldn't help but feel a surge of pride rush through my entire body whenever he smiled at me and I knew that _I_ was the reason why that gorgeous smile was spread across his face. The last time I'd seen him smile had been in the darkness of the movie theater as he held me. I missed that smile now.

I wonder if we'd ever make love, like he promised. We hadn't gone all the way yet, but I knew and he knew that the time was coming very, very soon. Just two nights ago, we'd made out on the couch in the senior commons - well, _made out_ is an understatement. We'd lay there intertwined for hours, kissing and touching and exploring each other. As I reminisced about all this, I felt a chill of pleasure run down my spine at the memory of all the places Blaine's hands had touched me that night...places he still had yet to see. It was wonderful and fantastic and I'd never felt more vulnerable in my life, but it was a beautiful kind of vulnerability. After all was said and done, Blaine had walked me back to my room and I'd paused outside the door before going in, wrapping my arms around his neck and telling him that I wanted him. Blaine had kissed me gently and whispered, _I want you, too. I promise you...someday soon. Very soon_.

Now, because of that two-letter word, I felt like none of this would happen. I squeezed my eyes shut and let a few tears slide down my face as its single syllable throbbed in my brain.

_If_.

"Kurt, honey?" My stepmother's voice snapped me out of the reverie I'd been drifting into. Carole was sitting at my bedside, holding my hand, looking at me with concern. My dad and Finn were behind her, doing the same thing (well, not holding my hand, but looking at me with concern). "How are you feeling?"

"I don't want to talk about it." My voice came out as a hoarse, tear-strained whisper.

"That's okay." She gently kissed my forehead before letting go of my hand and standing up to walk through the space between my bed and Blaine's. "Have you heard when Blaine's parents are coming?" she mused aloud, making it sound like a rhetorical question although I knew it was intended for me.

This was going to be hard to say, I knew it. "They're not," I whispered. Carole froze. Finn, who had just settled himself into the seat she'd vacated, almost fell out of the chair. My dad's hands clenched into fists. "They don't care about him anymore. They kicked him out when he told them he's gay."

Even through my tears, I saw my dad's face turn red with rage. "What kind of no-good parent would..." He continued to mutter unintelligibly; I heard a few choice curse words thrown into his mumblings.

I looked over at Carole, who in turn had looked down at Blaine. "How sad," she murmured. She reached out and lovingly stroked one hand through his dark curls and leaned down to kiss his forehead. I envied her. More than anything in the world, I wished I could comfort him like that. "He's such a sweet boy...he never did anything wrong just by being himself."

She was absolutely right, but hearing the truth verbalized like that just did it for me. Before I knew it, I was sobbing, the tears I'd been holding back all night pouring freely down my face. I pressed the heels of my palms into my eye sockets in a halfhearted attempt to stop the visible signs of my pain, but in all honesty, it felt good to finally be able to cry.

"Kurt." Finn had barely said a word since he'd arrived, so hearing his voice like that all of a sudden immediately got my attention. He gingerly reached out and lifted my hands down, away from my face, so he could look me in the eyes. "Listen to me. Blaine's an awesome kid and I'm so glad you two found each other, because I can see how happy he's made you. He's gonna pull through, Kurt. I may not know Blaine as well as you, but I _do _know him. And knowing Blaine, he'll find some way to make it. And as for his parents and the assholes who did this to you and everyone else out there who's like that...they'll get theirs. I promise, Kurt. The world can't tolerate this kind of hate much longer." He smiled and gently clapped my good shoulder. "Love you, bro. I got your back. Both of you."

I returned his smile through my tears - a whole new kind of tears that were now pouring down my face. Happy tears. In all the years I'd known Finn Hudson, I had never heard him say anything this deep.

"Thanks, Finn," I whispered.

Carole, still standing between the two beds, reached for my hand again. Then she took Blaine's unresponsive hand and placed it gently in mine. "You two have each other," she said softly. "You two _love_ each other. That's all that matters."

Just the sheer fact that she'd done that - that I was able to hold Blaine's hand across the small space between our beds - brought me so much renewed hope. I realized happily that his skin was still warm.

I gave my entire family an appreciative smile. "Thank you so much, guys...you should really get some sleep, though. It's like, what...three in the morning? And you guys have all been here since I got admitted at eleven. Go home, get some rest. I'll call you and keep you up to date if anything happens."

There it was again. _If_.

"Kurt, I appreciate the concern, but after everything you've been through, we're not leaving you," my dad said matter-of-factly.

I exhaled a sigh of relief. Secretly, I hadn't wanted them to leave. "All right. There's some chairs over there by the window, at least sit down and try and get some rest."

They must have been pretty exhausted, because they at least agreed to do _that_. The three of them crossed the room and settled down in the chairs I'd pointed out, covering themselves with some blankets Carole had thought to bring and falling asleep almost immediately.

I was still holding Blaine's hand. I didn't plan on letting go of it anytime soon. Very carefully, I brought it up to my lips and kissed his knuckles softly, then his fingertips, then his wrist. "I love you so much, Blaine," I whispered against his skin. "I would die for you."

Still holding his hand, I turned away from him and stared up at the ceiling, wide awake. Despite everything that had happened over the past few hours, I was nowhere near sleep. Although my tiredness must have been getting to me, because a couple hours later, at around five a.m., I could have sworn I felt Blaine's fingers move.

I was so shocked that I almost let go of his hand, but forced myself to keep ahold of it. Sure enough, a few seconds later, his hand moved again, his fingers gently squeezing mine.

I immediately glanced over at him, wincing when the sudden movement caused a twitch of pain in my shoulder. I could already see his chest rising and falling in a normal motion, as opposed to the labored breaths he'd been taking all night up to this point. Elated, I squeezed his fingers tighter. Finn was right. Blaine was going to make it.

But as soon as I squeezed his hand, Blaine's eyes shot open and I had to choke back a gasp. He glanced at me for a fraction of a nanosecond, hazel eyes wide, before pulling his hand away from mine as if it had just been bitten by a poisonous snake.

"Blaine," I said slowly, hesitantly, not sure what to say next.

He stared at me even after pulling his hand away and narrowed his eyes, squinting at me incredulously.

"Who are you?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Merry Day After the Day After Christmas. If you don't celebrate Christmas, happy Monday. If you don't celebrate Monday, even a Monday over winter break, I can't help you.**

I have to say that Santa was good to me this year. I got a whole bunch of Glee CDs...I'm listening to Vol. 4 right now, Naya's singing Valerie. I've been listening to this album and the RHGS soundtrack for the past...oh, I don't know, hour and a half or so while I typed this on My. New. Laptop.

Yes, you heard me right. I told you Santa was good to me. I've been needing one of these babies for so long now and I was so excited when I unwrapped it...but then I found out it didn't have Microsoft Word installed on it. I write all these lovely stories on Word. So I was freaking out, wondering how on earth I was going to be able to keep writing. My dad was explaining all this stuff to me about getting anti-virus software installed on my computer and I was just like "BUT WHAT ABOUT WORD?" (I didn't tell him why I needed it so much, though. If my parents ever find out I write this stuff, I have a lot of explaining to do.)

Anyway. I still don't have Word. But I did find a savior, and its name is GoogleDocs. My journalism class uses it to share and edit our stories before they make it into the school paper, and I'm going to start using it to type these stories so I can stop bugging the crap out of my dad about helping me install Word. So everyone needs to say thank you to GoogleDocs. (everybody in unison: "THANK YOU, GOOGLE DOCS.") Because without it, I probably wouldn't be able to update this or anything else for a really long time.

OH. And I also got the complete first season, so that's what I've been watching all day (it's 12:48 am now O_O). And um. Can we please take a moment to talk about how FREAKING BEAUTIFUL CHRIS COLFER IS. He was only 18 in the first few episodes, and he was ridiculously unfworthy back then. And now he's 20 and has somehow managed to get even more unfworthy. JFC.

I'll stop babbling now so you can read the freakin' story. One more thing though...disclaimer: I don't own Glee, Chris, or Darren. Still working on that. In the words of ChrisCo himself: "Actually, there are a few phone calls I have to make about that..." (best. interview. ever.) And if I DID own them, I wouldn't be as cruel to them as this story so far may make me seem.

The end. Happy reading. xD  


Chapter 3

He didn't remember. My Blaine didn't remember me. But then again, I suppose I should have expected this, considering what the nurse had told me after I'd woken up from my surgery.

"My name is Kurt," I explained slowly, as if I were speaking to a small child.

"Kurt," Blaine repeated, then squinted in confusion. "But you just said Blaine. Who's Blaine?"

"You're Blaine." I could tell that helping him get his memory back was going to be a much more difficult process than I'd anticipated. "Do you remember anything?"

"Remember anything about what?"

I sighed. "Never mind." Now was probably not the best time to explain what had happened to my delirious boyfriend who had no memory of anything.

Blaine glanced around the room, trying to make sense of his surroundings. "Are we in a hospital?"

"Yes."

"What happened to us?"

I racked my brain for a few seconds, trying to think of the most simple, harmless explanation. "We were both badly hurt."

"How?"

He just couldn't stop asking questions, could he? "Long story short, we were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I want to hear the long story." Then, before I could respond, he lifted up the covers of his bed and frowned as he looked underneath, presumably at the cast on his leg. "I broke my leg," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Yes, you did."

"What happened to you?"

"I broke my tailbone, or so they tell me. I actually don't think it hurts enough to be broken, but what do I know...I also got sta-"

I cut myself off, realizing too late that "stabbed" probably wasn't a good choice of word even though it was true. I didn't want to freak Blaine out any more than necessary. "And I hurt my shoulder really bad," I finished.

"Oh." I could tell he was trying to think of more questions to ask me, but he didn't get very far before Finn yawned loudly from the chair in which he was sleeping across the room. Blaine glanced over towards him in confusion, then looked back at me. "Who are all those people?"

"That's my family. My dad Burt, my stepmom Carole, and...," I gestured towards Finn as he began making his way towards us, looking incredulously at Blaine. "...And this is my stepbrother, Finn," I finished as he stopped walking and paused in front of Blaine's bed, eyes wide with shock.

Blaine smiled politely and extended his hand. "Hi, I'm Blaine."

Finn, who now just looked plain confused, shook Blaine's hand and stared at me, silently looking for an explanation. I mouthed the word _amnesia_ back to him.

Blaine looked from me to Finn back to me again. "I would really love to know how I ended up in here."

I sucked in a breath through my teeth. "Look, it really is a long story, Blaine. You're not in the right state of mind right now to hear it..."

"Wait, what do you mean he's not in the right state of mind?" This was Finn having a classic Finn moment.

I glared at him. "I mean he just came out of a coma, can't remember anything, and is on drugs. He's delirious."

"I am _not_ on drugs!" Blaine cut in, sounding offended.

"The doctors have you on a bunch of painkillers," I told him as gently as possible. "They do a bunch of crazy stuff to your brain...if I tried to explain everything to you now, you wouldn't be able to understand. I promise I'll tell you later, after you start to make sense of everything."

Out of nowhere, my dad's drowsy voice spoke up from across the room. "Kurt, keep it down, would you?" he mumbled loudly, drowsily, still half-asleep.

"Dad, Blaine woke up," I called back in response.

That got his attention. He tossed his blanket onto the still-sleeping Carole and stood up, pacing towards us with an almost nervous hastiness in his step. He stopped at the foot of the bed, next to Finn, and wore a surprised expression identical to that of my stepbrother.

"When did he wake up?" he asked in disbelief.

Blaine spoke up before I could respond. "You must be Burt. I'm Blaine." He stuck out his hand like he'd done to Finn. "Pleasure to meet you."

My dad warily shook his hand. "Hi, Blaine," he mumbled.

"So your whole family's here...is mine coming?" Blaine asked, turning towards me.

I swallowed the lump. Another tough concept to explain - I couldn't bring myself to explain to him that his parents wouldn't be here because they'd shunned him for who he is.

"Um, y'know, that's another long story. They can't make it," Finn jumped in as I was trying to think of some way to explain this to him. I shot him an appreciative smile - his explanation wasn't much, but it was more than I could come up with at the moment. "I'm really sorry."

"Finn, go get your mom up," my dad muttered lethargically, practically asleep on his feet. He followed Finn across the room to where Carole was still sleeping, leaving Blaine and me alone for the moment.

"Hey, Kurt?" Blaine asked as soon as we were somewhat alone. His voice was low; I knew my family wouldn't be able to hear him from across the room. "Can I tell you something?"

I shrugged my good shoulder. "Sure, go for it."

Blaine smiled - an almost-embarrassed smile, from the looks of it, and the faintest hint of a blush painted his cheek pink. "I know we kinda just met and all, but I think you're really cute."

I felt a blush of my own creeping up over my face and smiled my first real smile in what felt like a lifetime. His out-of-the-blue comment had made me realize that the Blaine I knew and loved wasn't gone, after all. He was still there - I just had to help him find himself again.

"Thanks, Blaine. I think you're really cute, too."

He reached for my hand across the bed and I let him hold mine.


	4. Chapter 4

**I watched part of A Very Potter Musical again last night. I haven't seen it in forever and I forgot how fucking hilarious it is. So, as a little tribute to Mr. Darren Everett Criss, I took the liberty of throwing as many AVPM jokes as I could think of into the first part of this chapter. So if you haven't seen AVPM and something in here doesn't make sense, now you know why.**

Actually, scratch that. If you call yourself a Darren Criss fan and you still haven't seen AVPM, I'm sorry for your life. Go. Watch it. Right now. (-steers people in the direction of the Land of Youtube-) I'm not letting you read this chapter until you watch it. (Actually, I have no power over that, so I'm going on the honors system. I trust you guys that you'll go witness its amazingness.)

*intermission*

Arright, has everyone watched AVPM? Good, because if not, the first part of this chapter is going to seem like complete gibberish. Aaaaanyway. Now that I'm done promoting Darren's pre-Glee career...actually, wait, I'm _not_ done, because I used one of his original songs in this chapter. So. To get the full effect, go to iTunes and look up Not Alone by Darren Criss. Forget everything I just said about AVPM if you didn't listen to me and haven't watched it yet. If you don't do anything Darren Criss-related for the rest of your life, at least go listen to that song. I could totally see Blaine serenading Kurt with it, given how the lyrics kinda reflect his whole situation. I less than three it so much. So I threw it in here.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, Criss Colfer/Darren Chris, A Very Potter Musical, or Not Alone.

Oh, and if you spotted the AVPM joke I threw into that little intro blurb, you get a Red Vine. (That joke doesn't count). 

Chapter 4

That afternoon, after my family had left and I'd slept for a few hours, I stood up for the first time since arriving at the hospital and managed to walk unassisted down the hall to the vending machines. The hospital food, with its bland taste and consistency similar to that of cardboard, just wasn't cutting it, and besides, I was in the mood for some candy. So I clumsily made my way down the short hallway, all the while wanting to rip off and burn the infernal brace I had to wear around my waist to support my supposedly-broken tailbone. A few nice nurses helped me when it looked like I was about to fall, politely reminding me that I really needed to be in bed, resting my shoulder. I gave them the nicest smile I possibly could and told them I just wanted something to eat.

Five minutes later (which was a lot longer than it should have taken, thanks to the stupid brace), I was crawling back into my hospital bed with a small package of Red Vines in hand. They were Blaine's favorite (or _had_ been his favorite; I doubted he remembered), so I decided it would be a good opportunity to start working on his memory.

"What did you get?" Blaine asked as I ripped open the package. He hadn't slept since coming out of the coma, and in fact seemed energetic enough to do just about anything.

"Red Vines. They're your favorite," I told him, munching off the end of one of the sticky red ropes.

"They are?"

"Yeah. Here, you'll see." I pulled another Red Vine out of the package and passed it over to him. Blaine looked at it tentatively before he shrugged and popped the entire thing into his mouth.

"Mmmm. This's good." He spoke with his mouth full. Very un-Blaine, but what could I say. Thankfully he swallowed before speaking again. "Like...not just good. Totally awesome."

"Told you so." I smiled and reached the rest of the package across the small aisle between our beds. "Here, just take the rest."

Blaine smiled. "Well, aren't you the charismatic humanitarian?" he said happily, already biting into another Red Vine.

I just shrugged. "Aww, thanks. I'm no Zac Efron, though."

Blaine just smiled and kept eating his Red Vines. I couldn't help but let a smile of my own grow on my face as I watched him. Despite his memory loss, he was still the kindest, bravest, gentlest, sexiest man I've ever met, especially after all he'd just been through recently, and seeing him so happy made _me _happy. Besides, he was still supermegafoxyawesomehot, which didn't hurt, either.

"Hey, Kurt?" he asked after polishing off the entire package.

"Yes?"

"Will you sing for me?"

I just stared at him for a second - how in the world had he remembered that I sang? He must have sensed my confusion, because he began to explain.

"Some guy came in to visit you while you were sleeping. He said his name was Will something and he was the director of some glee club you used to be in, something called New Directions, I think." He looked at me to see if any of that rang a bell, which it did. I nodded, silently kicking myself for having slept through Mr. Schue's visit.

"He told me he was on his lunch break, that he was just stopping in to see how you were doing," Blaine continued. "He said he'd come back this afternoon with the rest of the glee club instead of having their normal rehearsal. I told him you'd probably be awake by then."

"They're coming?" I excitedly glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was almost noon, and if Mr. Schue had kept the rehearsal schedule the same as when I'd gone to McKinley, glee rehearsal wouldn't start til 3:30. I sighed and snuggled deeper under my covers. "Oh, not for three more hours."

"So will you sing to me?" Blaine asked shyly, and I peeked my head out from under the blankets to looked at him. "Will said you were a really good singer. A countertenor. That's amazing, Kurt." Actually, what was _really_ amazing was that somewhere in the back of his brain, Blaine had managed to remember what a countertenor was. Maybe there was hope after all. Blaine smiled at me before finishing in a quiet voice. "I want to hear for myself."

I returned his smile and reached for his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "What would you like to hear?"

Blaine shrugged. "You pick. I don't remember any songs."

"Okay...," I trailed off for a second, trying to think of a song, and finally decided to go with something that Blaine had written for me himself.

I remembered it like it was yesterday. After I'd transferred to Dalton, Blaine had stayed up until two in the morning with me, politely listening to me vent all my frustrations about the assholes at McKinley. He'd said nothing, only listened, and when I was done talking, he'd taken my hand, led me over to the piano bench, and sat next to me as he comforted me by playing and singing this song. It had been my absolute favorite song in the world ever since. I only hoped I could do it justice as I sang his own song to him a capella. Before I could overthink it and freak myself out, I took a deep breath and began to sing.

_I've been alone  
_

_Surrounded by darkness_

_I've seen how heartless_

_The world can be_

_I've seen you crying_

_You felt like it's hopeless_

_I'll always do my best_

_To make you see_

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a tiny smile begin to slowly spread across Blaine's face. Surely something in his brain must have triggered the memory; I couldn't help but give him a smile of my own as I confidently began the chorus.

_Baby, you're not alone  
_

_Cause you're here with me  
_

_And nothing's ever gonna bring us down_

_Cause nothing can keep me from lovin' you_

_And you know it's true_

_It don't matter what'll come to be_

_Our love is all we need to make it through_

Blaine opened his mouth as if he were about to say something, but then let it fall shut again as I started the second verse.

_Now I know it ain't easy  
_

_But it ain't hard trying_

_Every time I see you smiling_

_And I feel you so close to me_

_And you tell me..._

Right before I began the second chorus, I looked at Blaine, and he smiled. He began singing along with me: quietly, under his breath at first, but eventually becoming louder and more confident.  
_  
Baby, you're not alone_

_Cause you're here with me_

_And nothing's ever gonna bring us down_

_Cause nothing can keep me from lovin' you_

_And you know it's true_

_It don't matter what'll come to be_

_Our love is all we need to make it through_

My heart was beating so fast, I thought it was about to fly out of my chest. Blaine remembered. Either he'd recalled the lyrics perfectly from the first time I'd sang them, or his mind somehow unconsciously remembered from before...before...I didn't have time to reminisce on that horrible event now; I had to keep singing for Blaine.

_I still have trouble_

_I trip and stumble_

_Trying to make sense of things sometimes_

_I look for reasons_

_But I don't need 'em_

_All I need is to look in your eyes_

_And I realize_

Blaine, ever the amazing musician, made up a little harmony right on the spot as I began the final chorus again.

_Baby I'm not alone_

_Cause you're here with me_

_And nothing's ever gonna take us down_

_Cause nothing can keep me from lovin' you_

_And you know it's true_

_It don't matter what'll come to be_

_Our love is all we need to make it through_

He gave me a tiny smile as we sang and reached for my hand across the bed. I took his hand in both of mine, closing my eyes as I let our harmonized voices wash over me. I'd forgotten how much I missed singing with him, and this moment...it was almost like tangible magic.

_Cause you're here with me_

_And nothing's ever gonna bring us down_

_Cause nothing, nothing, nothing can keep me from lovin' you_

_And you know it's true_

_It don't matter what'll come to be_

_You know our love is all we need_

_Our love is all we need to make it through_

I opened my eyes as our voices grew quieter and the song faded away. Blaine's smile was the biggest I'd seen since he woke up as he squeezed my hands. "Kurt, that was incredible," he whispered.

"_You're_ incredible," I told him, looking straight into his warm, hazel eyes. "And y'know what makes you even _more_ incredible?"

"What?"

I smiled at him. "You wrote that song."

Blaine looked at me as if I'd just suggested we kill all people with blue eyes. "You're crazy."

"If crazy means the same as absolutely correct, then yes. I _am_ crazy."

He shook his head, reaching up with his left hand to run his fingers through his dark curls. It wasn't until that moment that I realized he was still holding his right, but I didn't let go. "Kurt, that song was so beautiful...I couldn't have written something like that."

I just looked at him and nodded slowly. "You did. I can prove it to you. I can show you your lyric notebook when we get back to school."

"You go to my school? I thought you went to the same school that Will taught at."

"Not anymore," I sighed. "I used to go there. But things got...tough. There were some kids there who kept on giving me a hard time, and I didn't really feel like I belonged there anymore. So I transferred to your school. Dalton Academy. It's a boarding school in Westerville. And I'm pretty sure you left the notebook where you write down all your song lyrics on your desk in your dorm. When we get back from winter break, I'll show it to you. I'll show you the words to that song. You wrote it, Blaine."

He just looked at me for a long time. It very well could have been hours before he spoke, but in reality it was only about half a minute. When he finally opened his mouth, the words that came out were barely audible as he practically whispered them.

"What kind of stuff did people do to you at your old school?" he asked warily, almost as if he didn't want to know. "Why'd you switch and come to Dayton?"

"Dalton."

"Yeah, that." He looked at me expectantly.

Now it was my turn to be silent for a long time as I thought of the best way to explain this to him. "Well, it was mostly just this one guy. Dave Karofsky. Couldn't pass me in the halls without shoving me against the lockers."

I wasn't even looking at Blaine anymore. I stared off into space as I continued my story, involuntary tears pooling up in my eyes. "One day, I was walking down the hall, texting you. And I'll never forget how happy I was in that moment. Every time I saw your name show up on my phone, I smiled so big I thought my face was about to break off." I chuckled to myself, remembering how crazy I must have looked to the other students who had seen me in the halls that particular afternoon. "And then, out of nowhere, this big, meaty hand smacks my phone right out of my hands."

"Was it him?"

I nodded. "It was him. I chased him into the boys' locker room and confronted him. I yelled at him, and he yelled at me, and I just kept thinking, 'He's going to punch me in the face.'"

"Did he?"

"He didn't." I shook my head and looked down at my hands, which were folded in my lap. "I rather he would have, though, because what he did to me instead was a thousand times worse."

Blaine didn't say anything, just waited for me to come right out with it.

"He kissed me."

I could feel Blaine's wide eyes boring into my head like lasers, but I still refused to meet his gaze. To this day, I was ashamed to talk about what had happened between Karofsky and myself that afternoon in the locker room.

"It was the first time I'd ever kissed a boy," I explained to Blaine. "And he just...he just _stole_ it from me, just like that." I snapped my fingers to emphasize how quickly _that_ was. "And then about a week later, he confronted me about the whole thing. He told me that if I told anyone about the kiss, that he'd kill me."

"Did...did you tell anyone?"

"I had to. He threatened my life. I told my dad, and we went to the principal. Karofsky was 'expelled'-" I made finger quotes around the word, "for a few days, but they let him come back. I knew there was no way I could spend another day at that school with him there, so I left. I left and I came to Dalton."

Blaine didn't say a word for a good two minutes as he let all this sink in. When he finally spoke, his voice sounded broken, and I realized he was crying.

"Kurt, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." I squeezed his hand. "You didn't do anything. I've actually been so much happier since I switched schools, and a lot of that happiness had to do with you."

Blaine shook his head. "I know it's not my fault, but I'm still sorry for what happened to you. Nobody deserves that, Kurt. Especially not somebody like you."

I shrugged. "If anything, all that abuse just made me stronger. If I had to go back and do it all again, I would."

"No, Kurt." Blaine's hand turned into a vice grip on mine as he held it with all his strength. "I'm not going to let anything like that happen to you again. When we get out of here, I promise I'll protect you no matter where you go, what you do...,"

He smiled dreamily, probably remembering the song as he spoke again. "Because you're not alone."

It was my turn to cry. "Thank you, Blaine," I whispered as a few tears started to tumble down my face, looking him right in the eyes. "And I promise I'll do the same for you."

I leaned over onto my left side, completely facing him, ignoring the screaming pain in my shoulder as I reached over to take both of his hands in both of mine.

"We're gonna get through this, Blaine. Everything's gonna be okay."


	5. Chapter 5

**I was planning on making this chapter even longer, but with the addition of this little intro, it will end up being over 2,000 words. What can I say, this story is like my baby. I'm pampering it. Enjoy, Faithful Readers. :D**

Chapter 5

"Kurt."

When Blaine said my name, I was still wide awake even though it was getting close to midnight. I threw the covers off of myself and sat up, somehow getting the feeling that there was something wrong even though he hadn't said anything yet.

He reached for my hand, and when I held his, I realized that it was clammy and shaking. "What is it?"

"I had...I had a bad dream...like, it was really vivid and I'm so freaked out now."

"Shhh," I whispered, soothingly rubbing the back of his hand with my thumb. "It's okay. You're okay. Do you want to tell me about it?"

I saw Blaine shake his head in the darkness, but then he paused to think for a second. "Actually, I do."

"Okay." I nodded and gestured for him to continue.

"I was with you," he began. "It was nighttime, and we were walking through a parking lot holding hands...and all of a sudden all these big tough-looking guys jumped us."

My breath caught in my throat and my heart may as well have stopped beating. I couldn't have moved even if I wanted to, but I decided not to say anything and let him speak.

"They pulled me away from you and took us down this dark alley...I couldn't see you, but I heard you call my name. I tried yelling back to you, but they picked me up and threw me against the side of a building. I hit my head against the brick really hard and started bleeding. They beat me up a little bit longer and then they left. One guy had this huge truck and he ran my leg over as they were getting away...I couldn't move, so I just stayed by the wall.

"And then I heard your voice. You crawled over to where I was sitting, and took me in your arms, and then...,"

"Then what happened?" I encouraged, my voice barely above a whisper and strained with tears I didn't dare cry.

"And then I woke up," he finished simply. "I...I guess it wasn't that bad of a dream, considering the ending, because I remember the second I saw you, I felt so much better about everything. I almost felt like everything was going to be okay, but I was in so much pain..."

He trailed off and turned his head to the side away from me so I couldn't see his face. But when he choked out an audible sob, I knew he was crying.

"Oh, Blaine." I let go of his hand and stood up, stepping across the space in between our beds so I could sit on the edge of his. He looked up at me when he felt my weight settling next to him; I could see the tears glistening on his face in the darkness.

"It's okay," I whispered, pulling his head into my lap and gently stroking my fingers through his curly hair. My heart practically melted the moment I touched him. I'd been wanting to hold him, to comfort him like this ever since we'd arrived at the hospital, and my heart was beating with newfound tenderness as I did so. "Everything's fine. Nobody can hurt you anymore."

I knew I would tell him the truth eventually, of course. I would tell him that his subconscious must have dug up the memory of the attack and that's where his dream had come from. But I couldn't tell him now. Not when he was already all worked up and freaking out. I would let him sleep; I would give him one more night of peace. But come morning, he had to know the truth.

"Thank you, Kurt," he whispered through the last of his tears.

I didn't respond, just kept stroking his hair with one hand and brushing the tears off of his face with the fingers of the other. After a few minutes, his breathing became heavier, and I smiled as I looked down at him. He'd fallen asleep in my arms.

"Good night, Blaine," I whispered, gently leaning down to kiss his forehead. His skin was warm and soft under my lips. He stirred in his sleep and snuggled closer to me, but didn't wake up. All of a sudden I was dreading having to tell him the truth when he woke up. I didn't want to be the one to tell him what had really happened and break his heart.

But nobody else had been there but myself and the perpetrators, and they sure as heck weren't going to tell him. And if I didn't, who would?

…

I fell asleep sitting up. It wasn't the most comfortable position, but it meant that I could hold Blaine in my arms, which made everything worth it. I woke up before him, and since I decided I would just let him wake up on his own, I took this opportunity to just watch him sleep.

He was so beautiful when he slept. Actually, he was always beautiful, but in sleep, his face was calm and unworried. In his sleep, he reminded me exactly of the Blaine I'd fallen in love with. It didn't matter that he'd lost his memory, it didn't matter that he couldn't walk for the time being. He was mine.

Rays of morning sunlight streamed in through the window and gently splayed over his face, and he smiled at the sensation of warmth as he opened his eyes. "Hi."

I gently squeezed him closer to me. "Hi. Did you sleep better?"

He nodded. "Yeah, definitely. I just couldn't stop thinking about that dream, though. I didn't have it again or anything, but I just can't get it out of my head."

I must have been sitting there staring into space for at least a minute after Blaine finished speaking, because he sat up straight next to me, extricating himself from my arms but gently taking my hand. "Kurt. Say something."

"Blaine, there's something you should know." My voice came out as a flat monotone.

"What's that?"

"The dream you had...the nightmare...," my voice grew quieter the more I spoke, so that it was practically a whisper. "It was real."

Now it was Blaine's turn to be stunned silent. His mouth fell open, as if he wanted to say something, but the only sound that escaped was a tiny, strangled sound of confusion from somewhere in the back of his throat.

"It was real, Blaine," I whispered. "That's how we ended up in here."

Blaine said nothing.

"I guess I should start from the beginning," I started. "I'm your boyfriend, Blaine. We've been dating for a little less than three months now. And I just have to tell you, it's been the most incredible three months of my life." I smiled at him, blushing involuntarily.

I knew I'd never forget the beautiful sparkle in his eyes as he returned my smile. "I must have done _something_ right before all this crazy crap went down."

"No, _I _must have done something right to get _you_." I rolled my eyes, but laughed a little bit. "Anyway. We went to a movie Friday night. And after it was over, we were walking through the parking lot to your car holding hands...and that's when those men saw us."

"I already know what happened to me," he said slowly. "I saw it in the dream. But...what about you?"

I couldn't look at him as I told my story. I'm not sure what it was, but something made it extremely difficult to look into his eyes as I told him what happened. The more I spoke, the tighter his grip became on my hand until it felt like he was about to pop it right off. I didn't notice. Reliving the whole experience made me numb.

"What about the end of the dream?" Blaine asked softly after I'd finished explaining the part about being shoved into the trash can. "When you came and found me?"

"Oh, yes," I murmured. "I crawled out of the can after I was sure they'd left, and I called your name. You yelled back to me from across the alley, and I'll never forget how...how _broken _you sounded. You told me you were near the Dumpster, so of course I started looking for that, looking for you."

"What happened after you found me?" Blaine asked with a quiet innocence in his voice. "That's where I woke up. I don't remember what happened after you found me."

I inhaled a shaky breath. "I came up and sat next to you and wrapped my arms around you. The whole left side of your face was covered in blood, it broke my heart...and I told you that no matter what happened, I loved you. And...and you told me you loved me, too. I kissed you one more time before you...I don't know what happened, I guess that was when you went into the coma, right before the ambulance came." Finally, for the first time, I met his expectant eyes. "And now here we are."

I let him marinate on this for a little bit before acknowledging the tears I could see in his eyes. "You okay?" I whispered.

Blaine's words came out in a tear-choked whisper. "But..._why_?"

Suddenly it hit me. The only world Blaine knew was right here in this hospital room, where everyone had been so nice to us. He hadn't been out in the real world yet. He didn't understand hatred. It reminded me of being seven years old on September 11, 2001 and hearing my father explain to me that a group of men called terrorists had flown some airplanes into the World Trade Center buildings in New York for the sheer purpose of killing as many people as possible. After he'd told me about it, I'd asked the same question Blaine had just asked me. _But why_?

I responded to Blaine with the same words my father had told me when I asked him that question. "Because some people in this world are just heartless and cruel."

He sighed, shaking his head as a single tear rolled down his face. "I...I guess I don't understand. What did _we _do wrong?"

"Nothing." I pulled him close to me again; he rested his head on my chest while I stroked his hair. "We didn't do anything wrong. Unfortunately, there's hatred like this in the world because some people can't tolerate love."

Blaine laughed quietly, humorlessly. "That's quite the paradox."

He picked his head up off my shoulder so he could look me in the eyes before speaking again. "Kurt?"

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you a tough question?"

"Shoot."

He sighed. "When you said you loved me...did you mean it?"

I wrapped my arms around him and rested my chin on his shoulder, gently leaning my head against the side of his neck. "I did. I really, truly love you, Blaine, with all my heart. I know that might be weird for you to hear, considering it feels like you've only known me for a few days, but I mean it. I promise you, everything you've heard me say is true."

"Even that?"

"Especially that."

There was another short silence as we just held each other before he said my name again.

"Hey, Kurt?"

"Yes, Blaine."

I looked at him - he was already blushing, and he hadn't even asked me anything yet.

"Can I still be your boyfriend?"

I laughed and pulled him closer to me, smiling as I kissed his forehead. "Of course."


	6. Chapter 6

**Happpyyy New Years. Almost. xD I probably won't update this tomorrow because my mommy is being evil and making me finish my Big Huge AP US History Project of Death before I go to my friend's New Years Eve party tomorrow night. (I've been trying to work on it for the past few days, but I keep getting distracted and always end up writing this instead. Not sure how that happens O_O). Soooo I hope you all have a wonderful time ringing in the new year, be safe, and happy reading! :D**

Chapter 6

As expected, when the nurse came up to serve us lunch, she immediately shooed me back to my own bed. I'd still been sitting on Blaine's, my arms wrapped instinctively around him as we talked, as if we'd known each other all our lives.

"You broke your tailbone, Kurt," the nurse had said with polite annoyance. "You need to lie down. Get back in your bed."

"It's not broken," I muttered under my breath, but returned to my bed all the same and starting crumbling Saltines from their little package into my bowl of tomato soup with delicate precision.

She left us alone to eat in peace, which we did in silence for a few seconds before Blaine cleared his throat and spoke up.

"Hey, uh, Kurt, since you're my boyfriend now and everything, I should probably tell you about the other dream I had..."

He was speaking too fast, almost nervously, tumbling over the words in an effort to get them out. I also noticed that he was blushing a deeper red than I'd ever seen color his face in my life. I could only imagine what his dream had been about.

"Well...what was it about?"

He took his tray of food off his lap and set it aside. "It was mostly about you, actually."

Color me intrigued. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

Blaine laughed nervously. "No, it was most definitely a good thing." He cleared his throat again before continuing. "We...we were in this really fancy room. There was all this expensive looking furniture and a fireplace, and you and I were on one of the couches."

"The Dalton senior commons," I said breathlessly. I had a pretty good idea where this would go from here.

"Oh, so you know where that is?"

I nodded. "It's the senior commons at our school. Go ahead."

He took a deep breath, accompanied by a nervous smile. "We were on the couch, and you were under me, and we were kinda making out." If he hadn't been blushing before, he most definitely was now. "It was pretty hot. We didn't take our clothes off or anything, but my hands were all over you, and you felt _so good_, Kurt, I just wanted to lay there tasting and touching you forever and _god_. It was incredible."

Under the covers, my half-hard cock twitched, remembering how it had felt in the warmth of Blaine's hand. I closed my eyes, letting the memory wash over me in a rush of sensual nostalgia.

"Oh, Blaine." I shivered.

He turned on his side, propping himself up on his elbow so he was completely facing me. "Was that real, too? Like the other dream, did that really happen?"

I nodded, my eyes still closed. "Yes, that was real."

Blaine sighed. "I wish I could remember what that felt like."

I was about to say something in response to this, when all of a sudden he lay down, still facing me, snuggling himself down almost completely under the covers as he smiled. "Tell me about us."

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything." His eyes softened; he was looking at me like he couldn't see anything else in the word and didn't _want_ to see anything else...exactly the way he used to look at me before everything had happened. "Our first date. Our first kiss. I want to know about everything."

I returned his smile, wanting to go over to his bed and cuddle with him more than anything in the world. "Our first date was at Breadstix - that's a restaurant in Lima. I remember you came to pick me up and I was so excited, I'd spent hours picking out the perfect outfit because I wanted to look absolutely perfect for you."

"You always look perfect," Blaine murmured.

Now _I_ blushed. "Thanks. But I still wanted to look nice." I did the same thing he'd done, setting my almost-empty tray of food off to the side and lying down, pulling the covers up to my chin. "We sat across from each other at a booth in the back, and I kept trying to make sure our knees were touching under the table. You didn't seem to mind." I chuckled.

"You're right, I probably didn't."

"And we were leaning in really close to each other across the table as we talked, but it wasn't close enough...it took all my strength for me not to get up and scoot in next to you on the other side of the booth, snuggling up next to you."

"I wouldn't have been opposed to that."

I gave him a tiny smile. "But I didn't think you liked me like that yet. I was absolutely sure you thought of me as just a platonic friend, nothing more. Never mind that you were the only other gay guy I'd ever met and you were absolutely adorable - no, I knew I didn't have a shot with you. Not even when you insisted on ordering the biggest calorie-laden piece of chocolate cake for us to share for dessert." I giggled a little bit. "And when the waitress forgot to bring us dessert plates and we ended up feeding each other bites of the cake across the table, I _still_ didn't think you felt anything towards me. Not even when at one point, I got a glob of chocolate frosting on the tip of my nose and you leaned in close to wipe it off with your thumb."

Blaine giggled, his expression softening into my favorite smile. "I bet you'd look cute with chocolate on your nose."

I rolled my eyes. "You even told me that. But I still refused to believe I had any shot with you. I knew it had to be too good to be true."

"Did we finish the entire piece of cake?"

I nodded. "We did. And then, when we were leaving the restaurant, I felt your hand brush against mine. I must have shivered or something, and you probably thought I was cold because I didn't have a coat, so you stopped me just outside the door, took your coat off, and draped it over my shoulders. Then we started walking towards your car again, and you reached out and held my hand for real."

"Like this?" Blaine reached his hand out over the spaces between our beds and I gladly slipped mine into his like I'd done quite a few times before at this point.

"Just like that. We got in your car, and I remember I was really upset about having to let go of your hand. You drove me home, and after you pulled into my driveway, you got out and opened the passenger door for me."

Blaine playfully swung our intertwined hands back and forth through the empty space. "I must have been quite the gentleman."

"You are." I brought his hand up to my lips and kissed it. "You walked me up to my front door...the porch light was on, and it just seemed so romantic, you were holding my hand again..."

Blaine's smile just seemed to be growing bigger and bigger. At this point in the story, I knew I wouldn't be able to stop smiling, either. "And you turned to face me, still holding my hand...your face was so close to mine. I couldn't breathe, but it didn't matter, I didn't _want_ to breathe. I looked straight into your eyes, and as your face got closer, you closed yours so I did the same thing. You were moving slowly, and I couldn't see, so it was the most pleasant surprise when your lips finally landed on mine."

"Oh, Kurt." Blaine brought my hand up close to his face, holding it gently in both of his.

"It was like magic. It was perfect," I sighed. "We pulled away after a few seconds, and you smiled at me, and I bet I was probably smiling like an idiot but you wrapped your arms around my waist and brought me in for another kiss, anyway. I never wanted it to stop." By now, my voice was practically a whisper. "I wanted to just stay there kissing you for the rest of my life, but I knew I had to get inside before my dad came out and caught us. You said 'Goodnight, Kurt,' and gave me one more peck on the lips before you turned around and walked back to your car. I stood there on my porch and I watched you go...I couldn't have moved even if I wanted to. I watched your car drive down my street until the tail lights faded into the darkness and I couldn't see it anymore. Finally I walked into my house and got ready for bed all in a trance or something, then I snuggled under my covers and I called you and we talked for another two hours or so before I fell asleep to the sound of your voice."

I looked at him, realizing my gaze must have wandered somehow in the course of telling my story. "And that was our first date and our first kiss. What's wrong, why are you crying?"

Blaine smeared the tears off of his face and shook his head. "Nothing. I just wish I could remember that, and it kills me that I can't."

"It's okay," I whispered, a phrase I'd told him many times now ever since he'd woken up. "We'll make new memories together. I promise. We just gotta get through _this_." I made a face, gesturing to my tray of hospital food that sat on the end of my bed.

Blaine pressed his lips together into a tight line. "I think if we can handle this crappy food, we can get through anything."

He was still holding my hand and brought it closer to his face as he spoke. When his lips brushed against it, I felt that missing piece of my heart fall back into place. I felt whole again.


	7. Chapter 7

**This is pretty much what I like to call Complete & Total Fluff. I got a little carried away with the fluffiness actually...we'll see how it works out.**

OH. And part of this chapter was inspired by that picture Darren tweeted a few weeks ago...y'know, the one of him with all the Toys For Tots stuff and he's hugging this green stuffed...thing (I'm not quite sure what it is) and he looks so cute you just kind of want to crawl all over him? Yeah, that one. And in case you missed it, I have it here for your viewing pleasure:  
http:/ t w i t p i c . c o m /3i0m8i  
(just take out all the spaces. This site censors out links when you post them in stories. I sorry.)

And if that link for some reason gets edited out, just go stalk his Twitter and you'll find it. That's what I did when I went to get the link...I mean what? *sneaks away and leaves everyone here to read the freakin' chapter*

Chapter 7

A week after we'd been admitted to the hospital, I opened my eyes one morning and immediately glanced over towards Blaine, as had become a habit every time I woke up nowadays. He was already awake, lying on his side and looking at me with a smile similar to what a little boy would wear on Christmas.

"Merry Christmas," he said simply.

Okay, make that a smile similar to what a little boy would wear _today_. I glanced at the small calendar display in the center of the analog clock that hung in front of my bed - sure enough, it read December 25. I hadn't even realized this day had been approaching. Hell, I probably wouldn't have even known it was December had Blaine not pointed it out to me.

I returned his smile and reached for his hand across the space between our beds to give it a gentle squeeze. "Merry Christmas, Blaine," I said, then sighed. "It's our first Christmas together, and I couldn't get you anything."

Blaine rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb reassuringly. "It's fine," he murmured. "The one thing I want, you wouldn't be able to give me."

"What's that?"

"My memory." He sighed. "I hate being in this situation. I hate not knowing who I am. I barely know who _you_ are, and I don't like that either. I _want_ to know you, and I feel like that's been happening as we talked over the past few days, but I just wish I could remember what it was like _before_, y'know?" I nodded, although I couldn't even begin to imagine how he must have been feeling.

"The weird thing is, I trust you, Kurt," Blaine continued quietly. "I woke up from a coma, and the first person I see is _you_. I don't know who you are; all I knew, in that first moment I opened my eyes and saw you, was that you're this amazingly beautiful boy...," - I felt my face turning what was probably some heinous shade of pink as he spoke - "who's laying in the bed across from me. I have no idea who you are, but as I get to know you, I _trust _you. I don't even know how it happened - after all, to me, it feels like we've only known each other for a week. And yet I still feel like I can tell you anything and everything and just completely let my guard down. And I'll stop talking now." He gave me a wry smile after he finished.

I had not the faintest idea how to even begin to respond to a confession that big. "Isn't there anything else you want for Christmas?" I asked lamely.

Blaine thought silently for a second, then nodded. "Yes. I might even want this more than having my memory back." His voice was barely above a whisper. "And it's something only you can give me."

"Even more than your memory? That's a pretty tall order to fill."

"Sorry," Blaine said with an apologetic smile, then took a deep breath before continuing. "I want you to kiss me."

I wasn't sure if I'd heard him right. "What?"

"Kiss me," he repeated. "That's all I want for Christmas, Kurt. _Please_." There was nothing but innocent desire in his hazel eyes as he pleaded with me. As if I could resist that...as if I _wanted_ to be able to resist that.

Very carefully, I stood up out of bed and crossed the small space between us so I could sit down on the edge of his. I ran one hand back and forth through his dark curls, watching his eyes soften and his smile grow dreamier as he gazed back up at me.

"You know, you didn't have to ask twice," I whispered quietly as my heart did little flips inside my chest. It had felt like a lifetime since I'd last kissed him. And as for Blaine...this would pretty much feel like his first kiss. I wanted to make it perfect for him; he deserved nothing less.

Blaine said nothing, just kept his beautiful, expectant half-smile on his face as I leaned down and gently touched my lips to his.

I kept my hand on the side of his face, holding his cheek in my palm as I kissed him. He tasted even more delicious than I remembered, and his lips were soft and sweet and gentle...just like Blaine himself. He sighed into the kiss and reached up to wrap his arms around my neck, pulling me down closer to him, and I gladly complied.

Blaine smiled, looking straight into my eyes as we broke away for air, and my heart skipped a few beats. "I'd take that over having my memory back any day."

I rolled my eyes. "You don't mean that."

"Oh yeah?" Blaine was smiling a beautifully wicked smirk as he reached up to cup my face between his hands and pull me down into another kiss...a kiss that unfortunately didn't last long before we heard the sound of someone clearing their throat and we frantically pulled away, already blushing.

"Um." Finn was standing in the doorway, looking awkward. Behind him were my dad and Carole. "Are we interrupting anything?"

I shook my head, ducking a little bit to hide my red face as I got up off of Blaine's bed and hurried back to sit on my own. "Yes, you are, but it's nothing we won't be able to continue later." I winked at Blaine, who blushed adorably again. "Merry Christmas...how come you guys are here so early?"

"Are there any leftover cookies from the batch we brought over a few days ago?" Finn asked instead of answering my question. "We" referred to New Directions; the group had come to visit us the day after we'd been admitted to the hospital and had brought with them a huge plate of festive Christmas cookies they'd all made together.

Carole rolled her eyes as she stepped into the room. "Finn Hudson." She sounded exhausted.

I could practically see the lightbulb going off over Finn's head as he caught sight of the almost-empty cookie plate on the table across the room. He lifted off the Saran wrap and held up the last remaining cookie so Blaine and I could see. "You guys care if I have this?"

Neither of us did. Finn popped it into his mouth and mumbled, "Thanks!" around a mouthful of cookie.

"Please disregard your stepbrother, Kurt," my dad explained as he followed Finn and Carole into the room. "I guess we should just cut to the chase: you guys are getting out of here today."

Blaine and I just looked at each other.

"The doctors and nurses have all said that you both have been doing surprisingly well, considering the severity of your injuries. And Kurt, they tell me you've been getting up and walking around some, even though you weren't supposed to." My dad chuckled a little bit. "They think you'll be just fine at home, as long as you wear your brace for twelve hours a day-" I reached under the covers and immediately ripped the hated thing off as soon as he'd made it clear that it was no longer a full-time responsibility, "and keep resting your shoulder. Blaine, you're on crutches for six weeks. Other than that, you guys are free to go...get up and get moving so we can go get you discharged and go home."

"Home," I sighed happily, then looked at my parents with one eyebrow raised. "Wait. I'm going home with you guys, obviously, but what about Blaine?"

By the looks on Dad and Carole's faces, they obviously hadn't thought about that. "Where does he usually go while Dalton's on winter break?" Carole asked.

"He goes out to California to stay with his aunt and uncle," I explained. "They live in San Diego."

My dad glanced over towards Blaine, who was talking to Finn and not paying attention to us. "Carole, we're not gonna put the kid on a plane by himself and ship him across the country to stay with relatives he doesn't remember," he said, causing a mental image of Blaine wandering around LAX lost and confused to pop into my head.

"Okay." Carole nodded, then stepped around my bed to be closer to my boyfriend. "Blaine, sweetie, you're going to stay with us for the rest of winter break. Is that okay?"

Blaine reached for my hand again and smiled up at her. "What do you think?"

…

It ended up being the best Christmas of my life. Maybe it was the fact that for the first time since I was eight, I actually felt like part of a real, complete family on such an important holiday, maybe it was because I was with Blaine. Maybe it was because both of these things made me really, truly happy for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. I didn't care. All I knew was I couldn't stop smiling all day. And it felt amazing to smile like this again.

"You know what, Kurt?" Blaine mused as he stretched himself out on the living room floor in front of the Christmas tree that afternoon. He grabbed the large green stuffed animal he'd received as a get-well gift courtesy of Finn, hugging it to his chest as he smiled up at me. "Even though you and I have been through some pretty crazy shit the past few days, I can honestly say life is good."

He looked so adorable and cozy; I couldn't help but lie down next to him, snuggling into his side. "I'd have to agree with you on that," I murmured, wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my head on his chest. "This right here makes everything else we've been through recently so worthwhile."

Blaine kissed the side of my forehead. "Thank you."

"For what?"

He shrugged a little bit. "For everything," he said, as if it were the most simple, obvious thing in the world.

I was about to respond, but had barely opened my mouth when Carole's voice called from the kitchen, announcing that dinner was ready. At the prospect of food, Finn came sprinting down the steps from his room upstairs, where he'd been playing some new video game he got. I smiled at Blaine, giving him a light peck on the lips before standing up and reaching down to help him. I handed him his crutches and stayed by his side as he hobbled slowly out towards the delicious aroma wafting our way from the dining room.

Finn cleared his throat as soon as everyone was seated around the feast, lifting his glass of sparkling cider. "I'd like to propose a toast," he announced; he'd gotten good at this kind of thing after my dad and Carole's wedding.

"To Kurt and Blaine," he said, lifting his glass and smiling at us. "You guys made it. I think I speak for all of us when I say we couldn't be happier to have you here, alive and safe, on Christmas."

"To Kurt and Blaine," the rest of the family repeated in unison. Blaine smiled at me as his hand found mine under the table, and we raised our glasses with everyone else, drinking to our togetherness.

…

Late that night, Carole and I had managed to create a makeshift bed for Blaine on the living room sofa - the most comfortable piece of furniture on the lower level of our house, since he obviously couldn't climb stairs very easily with crutches. And thanks to Blaine's masterful manipulation in the form of, "Please stay with me," breathed against my lips as he kissed me, I would be sleeping in there as well. While he made himself comfortable on the sofa, I traipsed upstairs to the linen closet, pulling out some spare blankets and pillows that would suffice for a suitable bed on the floor. My dad, who happened to be walking down the hall at the same time, refused to let me carry the huge pile downstairs all by myself, for fear of me tearing the stitches in my shoulder muscle. He brought everything downstairs with me following awkwardly behind, then placed it on the floor in the living room and told us to let him know if we needed anything before leaving us alone.

Neither Blaine nor myself said a word while I spread the blankets out on the floor and arranged the pillows just so, and the silence hung in the air until I got up to turn off the light. "Good night," I called over my shoulder to Blaine, quietly; he was so quiet I thought he may have already fallen asleep.

I lay down on the floor and pulled all the blankets tightly around me like a cocoon, my eyes still wide open. There was another moment of silence when all of a sudden...

"My parents," Blaine's voice said from the other side of the room.

I sat up with a start, trying not to make too much of a fuss in the quiet room. "What about them?"

"I remember I was fourteen," Blaine said quietly. Eyes wide with shock, I began crawling across the room towards the couch where he lay; I'd heard this story before. "After dinner one night, I had them both sit on the couch while I stood up in front of them and told them I was gay. It was a really big deal to me, coming out to them. I had a whole speech written out on index cards and everything."

Blaine chuckled humorlessly as my shaking, clammy hand reached for his in the darkness. "Turns out I didn't need the cards. I'd just said the magic words - 'I'm gay' - when my mom asked me if I was serious. I told her yes, I was. My dad blew up. He told me he wouldn't stand for this. He wouldn't live in the same house as a son who wasn't, and I quote, 'a real man.' They gave me half an hour to pack my stuff and get out. Thirty minutes later, I was standing on the curb outside my house with my big black wheelie suitcase, wondering what happened to my life."

"Oh, Blaine," I whispered, crawling up on the couch to lay beside him and taking him in my arms.

"I had nowhere to go." Blaine's voice was even quieter and choked with tears. "I ended up going to my friend David's house - David wasn't there, he was away at school. He goes to Dalton. But out of all my friends, he lived closest to my house, and his parents were kind enough to let me stay there for the night." He drew in a shaky breath. "The next day, they drove me down to Westerville and helped me enroll at Dalton."

My mouth was wide open, but no words came out. What was I supposed to _say_? I'd heard this story before, but this time was different...

Blaine looked up at me, and I could see tears glistening in his eyes in the darkness. "Kurt, I'm starting to remember."

He pressed his face against my chest and soaked the front of my shirt with his tears. I still had no idea how to respond, so I settled for constricting my arms tighter around him, holding him closer, my fingers absentmindedly stroking his hair.

"That's not all there is to it," I said after a long time. "It's too bad the first thing that came to your mind was something bad like that, because I promise you, there were so many good things that happened before you forgot." My fingers moved from his hair to the side of his face to gently caress his cheek. "Think hard, now that some stuff is starting to come back to you. Can you remember anything positive?"

Blaine pursed his lips, thinking hard for a second before his eyes lit up. "I remember the first time I met you," he said, snuggling closer to me and looking cuter than any human being had a right to. "On the steps, at Dalton." I could feel a smile growing from ear to ear on my own face as he recounted all this. "You asked where everyone was going, and I told you I knew a shortcut, didn't I?"

I nodded. "You did."

Blaine smiled sheepishly. "Truth is, I don't know if the way we went takes shorter or longer to get there or whatever. All I knew was that you were the most adorable thing I'd ever seen and I just wanted an excuse to hold your hand."

"Hey!" I shoved him playfully, albeit still smiling and praying he couldn't see my blush in the darkness. "Anyway. I'm sorry. What else do you remember?"

"Singing to you," he stated with that adorable smile lighting up his face. "Teenage Dream. I'll never forget the way you looked. You had the cutest smile, and you just looked so happy, but when we had coffee afterwards, I realized that wasn't the case."

"Next memory," I murmured, knowing that he'd been distraught over seeing me upset. I didn't want this to suddenly turn into a bad recollection.

"Okay...," Blaine trailed off, racking his brain before letting a tiny smile grace his lips as he nuzzled his face into my neck. "Do you remember that dream I had about the two of us in the senior commons and then you told me it had really happened?"

"Of course."

"I remember exactly how that felt," he murmured, kissing my neck. I shivered closer to him. "Every single kiss...," he moved his lips up to kiss the edge of my jaw. "Every touch...," his hands traveled to my waist and rested on my hipbones, which were slightly exposed over the waistband of my flannel pajama pants. My eyes rolled back into my head a little.

He kissed my cheek softly before finishing. "And I remember what I promised you after I walked you back to your room." The breath I'd been in the process of inhaling got stuck in my throat. Blaine looked me in the eyes as he continued. "I still have every intention of keeping that promise someday, as long as it's okay with you."

I think I nodded, but to tell the truth, I was so overwhelmed with the intoxicating sensation that was Blaine that I couldn't really concentrate on anything else. "Of course it's okay with me."

He planted a small kiss on the corner of my mouth. "I promise you, Kurt. Someday after I get this awkward cast off my leg." He smiled wryly, apologetically.

"That might ruin the mood a little," I murmured, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling his face gently down closer to mine. "But for now, just being with you like this is fine. I'm holding you to that promise, though."

I could feel his lips turning up into a smile against mine and I could have sworn I saw him wink in the darkness. "I'm a man of my word."


	8. Chapter 8

**First of all...who all went and listened to Robin Thicke's When I Get You Alone millions of times on repeat when they heard the big news? *raises hand* Seriously, February could not get here fast enough. *sticks up middle finger to the month of January***

But in all honesty (rudeness to January aside). I AM SO DAMN EXCITED FOR CANON!KLAINE IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY. Like this is the moment I've been waiting for ever since I first heard the words "Darren Criss," "Glee," "guest star," and "Kurt's gay friend" in the same sentence. ad;fjaghl;jafl;skdghjarosdflk;jfkg.

Anyway. Back to NotCanonYet!Klaine AKA this story. I obviously don't know when Blaine's birthday is, so I just made it the same month and date as Darren's, but 6 years later. Also, DC apparently spilled Blaine's last name, so that's where that came from. The rest of the information about him, I just made up. Including his middle name. xD (and actually, his weight and time of birth are the same as mine because I was too lazy to make shit up).

I still don't own Glee (yet). If I did, all the guys would be all up on Kurt and crazy slashy shit would happen 24/7/365. Yeah.  
  
Chapter 8

I didn't even remember falling asleep, but I woke up with my head on Blaine's chest, our arms wrapped around each other and our legs entangled. He was already awake, smiling down at me as if he'd been waiting patiently. Which was most likely exactly what he'd been doing.

I pulled myself up a little bit and nuzzled my face into my favorite spot on Blaine - that little warm place where his neck melted into his shoulder. "Hi," I mumbled against his skin.

"Hey," Blaine responded in the most unintentionally sexy little whisper I'd ever heard in my life. He was still smiling as I reached up just a little bit further and brought my lips to his - in fact, his smile grew even bigger beneath the kiss. I forgot how to breathe.

"How'd you sleep?" I asked as he moved his lips over to my cheek. "If you don't like this couch, I can set you up somewhere more comf-"

Blaine pressed his index finger to my lips, cutting me off. "You talk too much," he murmured against my skin as he brought his lips closer to mine. "The couch is fine."

I was perfectly content with the way we made out for quite a few minutes...until his fingers reached up to caress my face and a sudden thought occurred to me...something I couldn't believe I didn't realize until now.

I gently swatted his hand away. "Don't touch my face. I haven't moisturized in over a week and my pores are probably horrendous."

He didn't listen, that boy - he reached up and trailed his fingertips over my cheek anyway. "Baby, you're beautiful," he whispered. "There's nothing wrong with you. You look amazing."

I gave him a wry smile as I sat up. "Please, Blaine. If anything, it will make me feel like things are starting to get back to normal. I just want to get back into my usual routine."

"Fine," he sighed as I helped him up and handed him his crutches. "Mind if I head out to the kitchen and get something to eat?"

"Go ahead."

I headed for the bathroom and Blaine hobbled his way out to the kitchen, where the sound of his voice carried from a few seconds later. "Your dad and Carole went out to breakfast," he called, and I stepped out of the bathroom to see him holding up a note they must have left on the counter. "Finn's still asleep upstairs."

"Alright, thanks." I gave him a thumbs-up and stepped back into the bathroom. I couldn't help smiling a little bit as I looked at my reflection in the mirror - my cheeks were red raw from rubbing against Blaine's stubble. He obviously hadn't been able to shave for a while, and as much as I preferred him clean shaven, I had to admit his current state of scruffiness was pretty hot. I let my mind wander, thinking sexy thoughts as I squeezed some moisturizer out of the tube onto my hands and rubbed them together.

Which of course was the exact moment that someone decided to ring the doorbell.

I sighed. "Blaine, could you please get that? My hands are messy."

"Sure thing." I heard the clomping of his crutches on the hardwood floor as he swung himself out to the front hallway. A few seconds later, I could hear the sound of the door opening and what sounded like quiet murmuring before Blaine's voice asked incredulously, "Why are you here? How did you _know_ I was here?"

Boyfriend Instinct told me something was wrong, so I wiped my hands on a towel and hurried out to the hallway to see who was at the door. Blaine was standing in the doorway, propping himself up on his crutches, a confused expression on his face. On the porch stood an unfamiliar-looking middle-aged couple whose facial expressions I couldn't decipher.

"Hello," I greeted them politely, stepping beside Blaine.

"Who are you?" the man asked, squinting at me, his voice almost rude. "And what are you doing here?"

"Um, my name is Kurt Hummel. I live here..."

The woman nodded, as if she'd been expecting to hear this. "I apologize," she said on behalf of her husband. "We're Bill and Lisa Anderson, Blaine's parents."

Neither of them made any attempt to shake my hand or offer any other form of introduction. After hearing about what these two had done to Blaine, I decided to show them the same extent of hospitality. I stood blocking the doorway, not about to invite them in. The two of us stared back at the two of them in an awkward silence before Blaine finally spoke up.

"How did you find me?"

Lisa opened her purse and fished out a folded piece of paper that was slightly yellowed around the edges. "We went to the hospital and asked about you," she explained. "The receptionist told me you'd already been discharged, and we had to prove that we were your parents before she told me where you'd gone...we showed her our IDs and a copy of this."

She handed Blaine that paper; he unfolded it and I peered over his shoulder to read it. It was a birth certificate, stating that Blaine Darren Anderson had been born to William and Lisa Anderson on February 5, 1993 at 10:21 pm, weighing in at seven pounds, eleven ounces. Blaine's face was completely void of expression as he stared at the paper, but as I looked at him, I noticed that the gaze of his hazel eyes trailed down to the bottom to read the two names. The names of his biological parents. The names of the couple standing on the porch in front of us, looking at their son for the first time in three years. The names of the people who had kicked Blaine out of their home because of who he is.

"She gave us this address, and we came to find you." Lisa's voice was almost a whisper, saturated with sadness.

Blaine said nothing, just shoved his birth certificate back into his mother's hands with a little more force than necessary. I could tell he was distraught so I stepped closer to him, carefully curling my arm through his.

Bill's face only took about half a second to turn completely red when he saw my sudden gesture of affection towards his son. "Get your filthy hands off my son, you faggot," he growled, lunging through the front door and pulling me forcefully away from Blaine.

Blaine dropped his crutches, letting them smack against the floor with a loud _bang_ as he wrapped his arms around me, holding me against him protectively. He spoke through gritted teeth as he balanced on his good foot to support himself. "Don't..._touch_...him."

Bill and Lisa looked at each other, then looked back at us with matching expressions of disgust as Blaine continued. "If he's a faggot, then so am I. And I'd rather be his _faggot_-" he sneered the word, tightening his arms around me, "than be your son." He shook his head. "I don't even know why you came here."

"We wanted to check up on you." Bill's voice was a lot calmer than it had been a few moments ago when he'd yelled at me. "We were hoping that attack would have scared you straight." Pun obviously intended. He glared at both of us. "Guess we were wrong."

"How do you think it feels for us," Lisa choked out, making no effort to hide the tears that we all knew were coming, "to know that our only child is going to Hell?"

Blaine, who casually practiced nondenominational Christianity, shook his head again. "You don't know that," he said, his voice even. "Only God can decide that. This is who I am, who I've always been. He wouldn't have made me like this if He thought it was wrong."

Lisa blinked a few times before letting a single tear fall down her face. "Blaine...," she whispered, stepping up through the doorway and reaching for one of her son's hands.

He pulled his hand away from hers and placed it gently on the small of my back. The way he was looking at the two of them...I couldn't even explain it. It was an expression I had never seen in Blaine's normally loving hazel eyes. It was hatred.

"Get out," he said simply.

"_What_ did you say?" Bill asked, although we both knew he'd heard exactly what Blaine had said.

"Get off my property," I said as calmly as possible, determined not to let them hear the shakiness in my voice. "My father has a shotgun. Get out of here _now_."

"You're a little sixteen-or-however-the-hell-old-you-are fag, you think you can tell us what to do?" Lisa's tone was suddenly demeaning through her tears.

Blaine shrugged casually. "Kurt was just being thoughtful. He didn't think you'd want to stay around to see this." And before either of them could say a word, he dipped me back in his arms just the slightest bit and kissed me.

I could feel Bill and Lisa's judgmental eyes staring at us, but I didn't dare open my own eyes or pull my lips away from Blaine's. I heard Bill's voice disown Blaine in the form of screaming, "You're no longer my son, you hear that? I have no son!" before angrily storming off the porch. Suddenly it didn't matter how tough Blaine had tried to appear when he confronted his parents. When his father said that, I felt one single tear fall onto my face. Neither of us broke the kiss.

I heard the click of high heels fading down the walk accompanied by Lisa's sobs as she followed him. Blaine kept his lips on mine until we heard the sound of a car engine rev to life and gun out of the driveway, tires squealing. We pulled away from the kiss and I stared into his red-rimmed eyes as I pushed the door shut.

"Baby, come here," I whispered, pulling him into my arms. He leaned against me as he cried into my shoulder, using me and his good leg to support himself since his crutches were still on the ground.

"They're my parents," he mumbled through sobs. "They're supposed to love and accept me for who I am. Not throw me out in the street by myself because I'd rather kiss a boy than a girl."

"Fuck them," I murmured without thinking, kissing the top of his head. "You don't need them. Anyone like them. Especially not when you're here with me." I kissed him again, this time in the middle of his forehead. "Out in the world, people like that can try to put us down because they think what we are isn't right. But here...," I squeezed him closer to me, "you're safe. And I promise I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

Blaine looked up at me with tears shining on his face and in his eyes. "I love you, Kurt."

It was the first time he'd ever said it to me without being delirious from pain. Suddenly my heart was pounding like a jackhammer in my chest. I kissed the side of face as I held him closer to me. "I love you, too."

"And I'm never going to leave you," Blaine continued as he pressed his lips against my neck. "I couldn't leave you, even if I wanted to. Not after everything we've been through together." He sighed in contentment, resting his head on my shoulder again.

I smiled, my fingers gently twisting through his hair. "Forever?"

"Forever," Blaine repeated happily.

I leaned down and kissed him gently again. This kiss was different than the one we'd shared in the doorway for the benefit of his parents - this was sweeter, more tender, not saturated with the hurt that had surrounded us a few minutes ago. It was perfect...

Which of course is exactly why someone decided to call me at that exact moment.

I sighed, pulling my vibrating phone out of my pocket. My dad's name graced the caller ID screen, AKA this couldn't wait. I pressed the phone to my ear. "Hey, Dad."

"Kurt, are you and Blaine still home?" His voice sounded skeptical.

"Yeah, where else would we go?

"I don't know. Listen, I need you to meet us down at the police station. The cops who have been investigating what happened to you and Blaine have made some big breakthrough, they'd like us all to be here."

"People have been investigating it?" This was news to me. "Wow, I didn't think anybody cared that much."

"Kurt, don't say that. Yes, there's been a whole investigation going on all week. You wouldn't know, because every time I came to visit you guys in the hospital, the TV in your room was always turned to Sports Center."

"That's Blaine's fault." My boyfriend jokingly punched my arm at the mention of his name. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you knew, and I had a ton of stuff going through my mind all week, look, I'm sorry." My dad sighed. "Point being, they caught the guys last night and have been interrogating them. The officers have some things they want to talk to us all about, things they learned from the suspects. Can you and Blaine meet us down here?"

"Yeah." I bent down to pick up Blaine's crutches and handed them to him. "We'll be right there."

"Okay. See you in a few," my dad said. I told him goodbye and hung up before turning to face Blaine.

"What's up?" He looked slightly nervous.

"We need to go down to the police station. They've learned some stuff from the guys who attacked us," I explained, going over to the closet and pulling my coat and his out of it.

Blaine's expression quickly changed to excitement. "They caught them?"

"Yep." I helped him into his coat before pulling my own on. "They questioned them, and apparently they found some stuff out that they want us all to know." I headed out into the kitchen and grabbed my keys off the hook where I always kept them, suddenly remembering I hadn't driven for over a week now. It didn't matter. "You ready?"

Blaine gave me a warily enthusiastic thumbs-up, leaning on his crutches. "Ready as I'll ever be."

We stepped out into the garage and I helped him into the passenger seat of my car. "Here we go," I said under my breath before sticking the key into the ignition, wondering what in the world we were about to hear.


	9. Chapter 9

**My apologies for the cliff hanger. I couldn't help myself. I'm not going to ramble in this intro, because I'm really tired and I just want to sleeeeep. This whole waking-up-at-6:30 thing just isn't working for me after I stayed up til 3am and woke up at noon every day during break for no reason. Aaaah. So while I sleep, you guys get to read. :D**

Chapter 9

I'd been in this situation many times before - sitting in an uncomfortable chair on one side of a desk, being stared down by some authority figure on the other side of said desk. But this time was different. For one, I was in a police station, instead of in the school office. Secondly, the person staring me down was a heavy-set police officer whose name I'd already forgotten, instead of Principal Figgins or, for a short time, Principal Sue. Lastly, I had Blaine sitting next to me, also in an uncomfortable chair. Both of my clammy hands were holding both of his. Behind us, Dad and Carole stood awaiting the information (they hadn't been offered uncomfortable chairs). There was a long silence in the dim, gray room before the officer cleared this throat and addressed Blaine.

"Young man, I understand some of your memory has started to come back. Do you remember anything about the night you and Kurt were attacked?"

Blaine shook his head. "I had a dream about it, and Kurt told me what happened, but that particular moment still hasn't come back to me completely yet."

The officer turned to me. "On the other hand, Kurt, you remember what happened very clearly, don't you?"

I nodded, feeling a chill run down my spine as I thought of it. Blaine noticed my muscles tensing and squeezed my hands reassuringly. "Y-yes, Officer, I do."

"They caught the four suspects in question two nights ago, in Indiana. They'd been traveling in a stolen vehicle," the officer explained. The cold sweat on my hands turned practically to dry ice as my eyes widened. He pushed a piece of paper across the desk towards us. Printed on the page were four mug shots with names underneath them. There was nothing familiar about any of these men's faces, but then again, it had been dark and I hadn't been able to see that well...

"All four have been interrogated, as of this morning," the officer was saying as I tuned back into reality. "And all of them had the same story as to how the crime came about. These guys...," he jabbed one finger at the sheet of paper, "are essentially henchmen."

I could feel every single muscle in Blaine's body grow tense, and I was only holding his hands. "Henchmen?" he asked warily. "You mean..."

The officer acknowledged our entire group as he responded to Blaine's unfinished question. "These guys here were sent out to do the dirty work of one David Karofsky, Jr., who wanted Blaine here murdered."

Four sets of eyes immediately fixed their gazes on Blaine, myself and the officer included. My boyfriend was staring into space at seemingly nothing; not moving, not blinking, not breathing.

"Karofsky," I breathed. "I _knew_ he'd still try to make my life a living hell. I thought I was safe from him. I thought..." I couldn't finish that sentence.

"A warrant went out for Mr. Karofsky's arrest last night," the officer told me. "He was arrested at his home and taken into custody here."

Another chill down my spine. I couldn't breathe.

"We interrogated Mr. Karofsky this morning," the officer told me gently. "He confessed that he sent out these four guys to do his dirty work. He wanted Blaine dead so he could have you. Has Mr. Karofsky always struggled with his sexuality, Kurt?"

It took me a few seconds to realize that he was addressing me. I inhaled a shaky breath before responding. "H-he tormented me at McKinley all the time," I said quietly. "And one time I went after him, and he kissed me. I had no idea..."

Another unfinishable sentence, this time as a result of my tears. Carole slipped her arms comfortingly around my shoulders.

Before the officer could respond, the door to the tiny office opened, letting in a much-needed rectangle of light from the lobby. Another police officer, a petite African American woman, stepped inside the room but didn't go far from the door.

"Mr. Karofsky has requested to speak with Kurt." She said it as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

Now every eye in the room was on me as I tried to catch my breath. "Karofsky wants to talk to me," I whispered. It was not a question; it was a statement of fact.

"Kurt, you know you don't have to do this if you don't want to," my dad mumbled in my ear, although his voice was still audible to everyone in the tiny room.

"I don't know if I want to," I admitted.

"You'll be in a high-security room, on the other side of a bulletproof glass partition," the woman explained. Her voice was eerily calming; it reminded me of a hypnotist or a prerecorded narrator speaking on one of those weird meditation CDs that were supposed to help you relax. Then, as an afterthought, added, "You don't have to come, but I think he'd really like a chance to explain himself."

_What the hell_, I thought, and sighed as I stood up. "Fine. I'll go talk to him."

I started towards the door to follow the woman officer, but my dad stopped my by placing a hand on my shoulder. "Kurt, want me to go with you?" he offered.

I gently shook his hand off. "No, thanks. I need to handle this on my own."

"We'll wait for you outside the station, Kurt," Carole called as I left. There was something in the tone of her voice that I couldn't quite put my finger on, something like desperation.

I followed the woman down a long, bland hallway in which everything was stark white. The drywall. The marble floor. The light streaming down from the fluorescent bulbs that hummed in the ceiling. Finally, she stopped outside a heavy-looking door at the end of the hall, typed a password into a little keyboard, and the door swung open for us. I felt like I was in a secret agent movie.

The room we entered reminded me of some strange combination of a doctor's office waiting room and a ticket booth at a movie theater. On the waiting room side, chairs were pulled up to the edge of the long booth, the tops of them about level with where the glass began. There were little speakers planted into the middle of the glass, so two people could speak through it and be able to hear each other. On my side, the waiting room side, civilians like myself were sitting in the chairs and speaking through the glass to their criminals on the other side.

I spotted him right away. Karofsky was sitting on the other side of the partition as far away from the door as possible. His head immediately jerked up when he heard the door open, and when he noticed me following the officer into the room, he looked back down as if he hadn't been expecting us.

The officer led me down to the chair across from him. I sat down and she walked away, but I had the comforting feeling that she didn't go far. I forced myself to look at the man across the glass wall from me. Karofsky looked like hell. Dark circles bagged under his bloodshot eyes; he probably hadn't slept in days. The expression on his face could be summed up in one word: guilt. It was a few moments before either of us spoke.

"Hi, Kurt." His voice sounded sad.

I crossed my legs and clasped my hands over my knee. "Hello, Dave." Apparently we were addressing each other on a first-name basis now. He'd never called me by my real name. I was always Faggot. Lady Face. Homo. Pussy. Never Kurt.

"You look nice," he murmured.

I smoothed out my shirt. "Thank you." It seemed like I should acknowledge his appearance, so I decided to tell him the truth. "You look...terrible."

He sighed. "I _feel_ terrible. Look, I like you, okay, Kurt? I've always liked you. I was just too fucking scared to admit it to myself. And I was so jealous that you were out and proud...I never had the balls to admit who I am."

I stared at him intently. He didn't meet my eyes. "I thought maybe if I could be with you, I would feel better about myself." His voice was quiet. "Problem, though. You've been dating that Blaise kid from Dalton."

"Blaine."

"Whatever. I needed him out of the picture, but I couldn't kill him myself. I couldn't. I didn't even have the balls to kill the guy. So I got some goons to try and do it for me. They were supposed to restrain you while the other two finished Blaine off, but I guess they didn't do their job too well, huh?"

Karofsky chuckled idly and looked at me, expecting the same response. I stared at him. He cleared his throat awkwardly and continued.

"Which...I guess ended up being a good thing...that he didn't...die. They left him for dead after he hit his head really bad, I guess." He looked up at me, it was the first time he'd tried to maintain eye contact for more than two seconds. "And that's all I have to say. I'm sorry, Kurt."

I kept looking at him, too angry to even say anything.

"Can you...say something?"

"I have nothing to say to you." My voice was a flat monotone.

Karofsky's expression turned desperate as he pleaded. "Kurt, I apolo-"

"I'm done here." I stood up, turning away before he could see me cry, and stepped towards the officer who'd shown me the way here. "Can I please go now?"

She gently wrapped her fingers around my elbow, guiding me towards the door. "Of course. Let's go."

I must have walked down the hallway and out into the main lobby. I must have pushed through the doors of the station and stepped outside into the cold, brisk air. I must have found my family standing at the edge of the parking lot, waiting for me. But I don't remember any of it.

"Kurt." My dad walked towards me, meeting me halfway, and wrapped his arms around me in a crushing hug. I wasn't crying yet. I couldn't cry. I felt like I'd used up all my tears over the past few days. I couldn't even move my arms to hug him back, but the gesture was nice.

Neither he nor Carole asked me about it, which I appreciated. I didn't feel like talking about it quite yet. All my dad said was, "We can talk about it at home, if you want. Blaine's waiting in your car, you take him and we'll see you back at the house."

I slipped out of his embrace and offered my best attempt at a smile. "Okay. See you at home."

When I got into my car, I had barely shut the door when Blaine's arms reached out and pulled me close to him. It amazed me, just like everything about him amazed me, that he could tell I was upset even when I wasn't crying.

"Kurt, listen to me," Blaine was murmuring. "You've been the strong one throughout all this. You've been _so_ strong. You haven't left my side, and I appreciate that so much...and now, it's my turn to hold _you_. It's okay," he whispered, and I felt his lips touch the side of my forehead. "I've got you. It's okay."

I didn't move for a good, long time, just stayed perfectly content and let him hold me. I didn't want to go home; I didn't want to be anywhere but here. His arms were the only place I felt safe.


	10. Chapter 10

**So. This whole Glee hiatus thing. Not cool. I need my Klaine fix nao kthx.**

I CAN'T WAIT FOR IT TO BE CANON. Forrealsies. I am going to fucking bawl my eyes out when they kiss :,D and then I'll go online the next day and rewatch said kiss over and over again.

Oh, wait. I'll be watching the VDay episode online anyway. I cheerlead for my school's varsity basketball team. They have games on Tuesday nights. Usually I can make it home in time for Glee, but the game on February 8 happens to be an away game, an hour away, out in the middle of nowhere AKA I have to miss canon!Klaine happening. And I don't have a working TiVo or DVR, and my TV is stupid and won't let me record stuff on it. I still have a ghetto-ass VCR that hasn't seen the light of day since about 1998, so if I can find a blank VHS tape I can tape it, but the chances of that happening are slim to none. Fuck. My. Life.

Soooo my options are either 1) fake sick that day, so I don't have to go to school (we can't cheer if we aren't at school the day of a game). Or 2) watch it online the next afternoon when I get home from school, after hearing everybody talk about it all day. (This happened to me with the Christmas episode too. I missed it because of cheerleading and the next day at school everyone was all "Omg on Glee last night..." and I had to be like "SHUT UP I HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET.") I'm thinking I'll try 1, and for some reason if that doesn't work out, then 2 is better than nothing. But still. It bugs me that I can't watch it with the rest of the world. fzglfjsrl;asjdghl;sjfdadfg. This makes me mad.

And it doesn't help that there's a kid named Darren on our basketball team, either. Every time the announcers say his name during a game, my mind automatically goes to D. Criss and I start fangirling like whoa inside my head. On that night, whenever I hear it, all I'm gonna think is "DARREN. HE AND CHRIS ARE PROBABLY MAKING OUT RN. AND I'M HERE, MISSING IT." D,:

Aaaaanyway. (/whining) Yay for updates! And I still don't own Glee. (If I did, Darren & Chris would have made out a long time ago, I promise).

Chapter 10

"This looks kind of familiar," Blaine commented as my dad stopped the car in front of the main building on Dalton's campus. He stared wide-eyed out the window, taking it all in, the slightest hint of an excited smile pulling up the corners of his mouth.

"I'm sure it'll come back to you after you see more of campus," I told him. Dad parked the car; he and Carole, Finn, Blaine and myself all piled out and started unloading our suitcases. It felt so refreshing to be back from winter break - already I felt like things were starting to get back to normal.

"I remember a little bit." Blaine tilted his head to the side, pondering from where he stood a little ways back from the car. Being on crutches, he obviously couldn't carry anything. "But the only place here that I can recall really well is that room where we made out."

Finn, who happened to be walking around the car towards us at that exact moment, overheard us and slipped on a patch of black ice. He cursed and grabbed ahold of the car to hold himself steady, then stared warily at Blaine and me as he pulled a suitcase out of the trunk. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that." He backed away slowly.

I made a face at his retreating figure as he walked away. "That's not the only place we've made out here, trust me," I hissed at Blaine.

"Really." Blaine smiled enticingly. "Remind me of the others, would you?"

"My dorm, your dorm, behind the shelves in the library, outside the cafeteria, the choir room...,"

"Oh boy," Blaine muttered, still smiling although his face was bright red. Something told me this flush of color wasn't from the cold.

I smiled as I set the suitcases I was carrying on the ground and stepped closer to him, wrapping my arms around his neck. "I'll remind you," I whispered, kissing him softly once before pulling away to speak again. "Promise."

I had just kissed him a second time when Carole's voice called out from somewhere back by the car. "Boys! Come on, everything's out. We're heading inside."

Blaine and I exchanged a smile as I gently slipped away from him and picked up my suitcases again. That smile stayed on my face as I followed my family towards my dorm building...somehow, second semester was already starting to feel like a new beginning.

…

Having transferred pretty late during last semester, I had a single room all to myself. Sometimes it was nice to be alone, sometimes it got lonely. This was one of those times. I knew Blaine was just down the hall, moving back into the room he shared with Wes, but it felt strange not having him there.

I was in the process of placing a pile of neatly-folded uniform slacks into a drawer when it hit me. Blaine and I had been virtually inseparable over the two weeks we'd been on break. He hadn't been able to move around very easily, and I'd had to rest my shoulder, so we'd pretty much been stuck in the hospital and then at my house together. Not that it was a bad thing. It just made me...I don't know..._miss_ him, even though I knew he was less than the length of a football field away.

But it's funny how some things happen to work out. One second, I was thinking about Blaine and wanting him to be here with me. The next second, there he was.

I turned around to get more clothes out of the suitcase and gasped a little bit when I saw him standing on his good leg, leaning against the frame of the open door, both crutches tucked under one arm. "Oh, my god," I breathed, one hand flying up over my heart. "You scared me."

Blaine shrugged. "I would apologize, but quite honestly, you're really cute when you get scared like that."

"Flattery will get you nowhere." I rolled my eyes as he swung himself across the room and sat down on the edge of my bed, which I'd just finished making about two minutes before he came in. He set his crutches on the floor and smiled that irresistible smile up at me.

"We'll see about that," he said softly, reaching out for my hand. I was standing close enough to the bed, so he was successful in bringing me down beside him. He lay down on his side and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me gently against his body so we were spooning. As I made myself comfortable, reflexively snuggling in closer to him, he put his lips against my ear and started right back in with the compliments.

"Kurt," he whispered as I let a sigh slip out of my mouth and shivered closer to him. "You're perfect."

"No, I'm not," I mumbled. "Nobody's perfect. Except for you. Somehow I got lucky enough to end up with the only perfect man the world has to offer." I turned my head back and smiled at him; the way he smiled back at me was more than enough to take my breath away.

"I could say the same for you," he whispered back. He reached for my face, cupping it in the palm of one hand, and gently pulling me into a kiss. I turned onto my other side, facing him, and he lay down on his back, pulling me on top of him. His tongue slipped between my lips and brushed against mine, eliciting a soft moan that fell from my mouth right into his.

I don't know how long we lay there kissing. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours. I neither knew nor cared. All that mattered was the fact that I was _here_, in this moment. I was in the arms of a beautiful boy who loved me for _me_, and he was holding me so close to him, close enough that I could feel his heart beating right up against mine, as if he never wanted to let me go. His lips caressed mine with a gentle passion - there was no urgency, no rush, just us.

Finally, reluctantly, I pulled away and inhaled a gulp of oxygen that I knew I didn't need as much as I needed Blaine. My head came to rest on his chest, right over his rapidly beating heart, my legs entangled with his. I closed my eyes for a moment and wondered if I were the luckiest person in the world...it didn't take me long to decide that yes, I was.

"This is what I missed," I murmured, my eyes still closed. "Moments exactly like this. Moments that remind me how beautiful this life can be, even with all the cruelty and hate people feel towards us."

Blaine said nothing, just tipped his head down and kissed my forehead lovingly. All of a sudden, as his lips touched my skin, something hit me. As soon as his gesture of affection was completed, I felt tears welling up in my eyes. It wasn't long before said tears were making their way down my face.

"What's wrong, love?" Blaine whispered. He pulled me up closer to him, his lips brushing over various spots on my face, kissing my tears away.

"It's not fair," I gasped.

"What's not fair?"

"Y-you...," I wasn't quite sure how to put this. "Just the fact that someone was able to look _you_ - the most beautiful, loving person I know - straight in the eyes and want to k-_kill_ you..."

My head collapsed onto his chest and I cried some more. "I don't understand," I whispered. "I love you so much, and it just hurts that people can't see how much love you have, too."

Blaine said nothing yet, just rubbed his hands slowly up and down my back in comfortable silence for a few seconds. Then, something else swelled up inside of me - something I knew I had to say, for whatever reason, just for the sake of saying it.

"I hate him."

Blaine knew exactly who I was talking about. "Kurt, don't say that," he whispered fiercely. "That's such-"

"A strong word, I know. But I do, Blaine. I hate that he wanted to do that to you. I hate that he wants me. I _hate_ him."

He sighed. "I disagree with his methods, obviously. He's probably - no, _definitely_ - a little messed up in the head, if you know what I mean...but deep down inside, he's struggling with the same thing you and I have struggled with. What every gay guy has struggled with at one point or another. He's afraid of who he is, Kurt. He doesn't want to admit it to himself yet, and for some reason he thought he'd feel better about himself if he were with someone who already had accepted themself. Someone like you. I'm not saying I agree with what he tried to do to us, but at least try to understand how he feels."

I looked up at him out of the corners of my eyes. "You have a point..."

His arms tightened closer around me. "I think you should give him another chance, Kurt. Try to find a time to go in there and talk to him again. I understand you were upset when you two talked last week, but it probably just made him feel even worse about himself. I'll go with you this time, if you want."

"You will?"

"Sure!" His tone made it sound like I'd just asked if he wanted to go out for ice cream. "I've forgiven him, Kurt. I know you probably think that sounds crazy. I'm not saying you have to forgive him yet, or ever, if you don't feel comfortable. It's just...the more I've thought about this whole situation over the past few days, the more I've come to realize how his thought process must have worked throughout all this."

I sucked in a breath through my teeth. "Okay, I completely see where you're coming from, but going in there and talking to him face to face is a lot easier said than done," I explained. "Do you remember the one and only time you met him?"

"Can't say I do."

"You came to McKinley to help me confront him the day after he kissed me. Long story short, I thought he was about to punch you in the face at one point. He was _pissed_, Blaine. I'm afraid of...what he might do if he sees us together again."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." There was a smile in his voice as he squeezed me reassuringly. "Just think about it, at least."

I pulled myself up and buried my face into his neck. "You're a much better person than I could ever hope to be," I mumbled. "I'll go to the main office after class tomorrow and ask for permission to go off campus next weekend so I can go talk to him. Are you coming?"

"To the office, or to the jail with you to talk to Karofsky?"

"The second one."

"Oh. Of course I'll be there, Kurt. I can't let you go through this alone."

"Thank you," I said simply.

Blaine responded by giving me a soft, chaste kiss on the lips, then flipped us over so I was on my back and he was cuddling against my chest. He smiled up at me with passionate admiration shining in his hazel eyes.

"You're my hero, Kurt. You know that?"

I rolled my eyes as my fingers absentmindedly trailed through his hair, playing with his curls. "I don't recall doing anything to deserve that level of respect."

"Are you kidding me?" he murmured incredulously. "Kurt, I doubt I'd even be alive right now if it weren't for you. You've brought me through this - you helped me get some of my memories back, you told me everything would be okay even when I honestly believed it wouldn't. You've done so much for me and I can't thank you enough...and I love you, so much, more than I could ever begin to put into words."

My heart absolutely melted as he spoke. Before I knew it, I was blinking rapidly to hold back another deluge of tears - but these were different tears, happy tears. "Blaine, I...I don't even know what to say..."

"You don't have to say anything," he whispered, and before I could protest, he placed his lips on mine and I got completely and utterly lost in his kiss.

Once again, I can't tell you how long our kiss lasted. I only remember the way it ended - when we both pulled away abruptly after somebody startled us by knocking on the side of the door to announce his presence.

We both looked up to see who was joining us. It was Wes, and his face was about as red as it could get. "Hey, uh, me and David and some of the guys were wondering if you guys wanted to go out for pizza or something, hang out for a little bit...," he stammered, obviously uncomfortable at having walked in on us. "But if you're busy..."

Blaine looked at me; I shrugged and gave him a smile. "Why not. You up for it?"

"You know it." He extricated himself from my arms and legs and bent down to pick up his crutches. "It's our last night of freedom before classes start...why not live it up?"

Wes clapped Blaine on the shoulder as he tucked his crutches under his arms and began to swing himself towards the door. "I like the way this guy thinks, Kurt," he told me.

I smiled as I slipped my shoes and coat on and followed them out the door. "I do, too. He's not so bad once you get used to him."

"Hey!" Blaine pretended to look offended, but ended up laughing. "You'd better watch your back, boy. 'Not _so_ bad'? I can be a lot worse." He stopped in his tracks for a brief second so he could pick up one of his crutches and jab me lightly in the side with it.

Wes rolled his eyes but smiled - he was used to this. "You two go flirt your way to the elevator. I'm gonna go let the rest of the guys know we're leaving, we'll meet you downstairs."

Blaine and I did as we were told. The rest of the way down the hall, Blaine kept trying to sneak-attack me and poke me with one of his crutches again. I squealed and jumped out of the way, reducing both of us to giggles. Finally we reached the end of the hall and I managed to leap out of the way just in time as Blaine tried to poke me again, right into the open elevator doors.

"You win," Blaine admitted once the doors slid shut behind him. "It's too cramped in here, I can't move these very well."

"I win?" I repeated. "I want a prize."

"What exactly did you have in mind?"

I didn't tell him what I wanted; I decided to show him instead. I placed my hands on his shoulders and leaned in for a sweet kiss, letting my tongue flick lightly against his lips as I pulled away.

I had tasted victory. And it was delicious indeed.


	11. Chapter 11

**So earlier tonight I was hanging out with a few of my friends who go to an all-boys' school (we were at their school's hockey game, and I was the only girl in the student section...yeeee). It was fun. And it definetly beat studying for stupid midterms. Then when the game was over, I drove home with Darren's Teenage Dream playing on repeat at earsplitting volume, because hanging out with the guys at the game had inspired me. Kind of. Not really. But having just been around a bunch of guys who go to an all-boys' school, the first part of this chapter was a lot easier to write.**

Oh, and some of the other Warblers make cameos in this. I had to Google like crazy to find out if any of the other Warbler characters (other than Kurt, Blaine, Wes and David) actually had names. Turns out some of them do. So I used those character names for some of them, and as for the others, I just used the real actors' first names. Yeah.

Glee is still not mine. If it was, there would be an Adam Lambert episode and a Queen episode (actually, I'd probably combine both those themes into One Big Episode of Gay Amazeballsness, complete with lots of Blaine getting all up on Kurt and vice versa). And there most definetly would NOT be a Justin Bieber episode happening. *prays that this is a rumor* Please feel free to read the chapter while I barf.  


Chapter 11

"Hey, Kurt, I bet you can't get that big teddy bear in the back."

"I betcha he can."

"Really."

"You mean you don't have faith in your boy's mad claw-machine skills, Blaine?"

"Guys, shut up!" I finally had to shout above the loud white noise of the pizza parlor as I stood in front of the claw machine, surrounded by Blaine and a random sampling of the rest of the Warblers: Wes, David, Nick, Jeff, Thad, James, Luke, and Brock - all of whom immediately shut up and stared at me after my outburst.

"I need to concentrate," I added in a quieter voice, reaching for the lever that controlled the claw. "By the way, Nick, I don't know what mad claw skills you're talking about."

"You don't remember?" Nick's voice asked from somewhere behind me? "When we all came here after Sectionals and you won that giant stuffed dragon thing or whatever at this machine?"

I had to think about it for a while before I remembered. "Oh. Right," I muttered. I'd given that it to Blaine, even though we hadn't been dating yet. I planned on doing the same thing if I won anything this time, which I doubted would happen. Last time had just been pure luck.

"Remember, Kurt," James's voice said in a somewhat creepy tone. "Beeee the claaaaw."

I got the feeling that everyone had turned to stare at him. "What? From SpongeBob?" James said defensively.

"James, stop talking," Wes said. "Kurt, go ahead and drop the damn claw. I'm hungry."

I inserted the coins and the game whirred to life. Immediately, I moved the claw back towards the teddy bear Blaine had said I wouldn't be able to get. I squinted towards it, making sure it was directly in line with the claw, and decided to go for it. Without thinking, I closed my eyes and pressed the button.

A few seconds later, I heard the machine making some kind of obnoxious fire-siren-esque noise and opened my eyes to find all the lights flashing and a small marquee scrolling across the top of the machine, proclaiming me a winner. The guys behind me had erupted into a loud cheer and I felt myself getting shaken around and clapped on the shoulder as the claw, with the teddy bear in its grasp, moved over towards the chute at the front corner of the machine. The claw dropped the bear down into the chute and I bent over to pick up the prize.

"Wonder who you're gonna give _that_ to," David commented, nodding at the bear.

"Your guess is probably right." I smirked as I walked over to Blaine; he leaned down to give me a quick kiss. "You get this when we go sit down, it would be a little hard for you to carry right now. And _you_ said I wouldn't be able to grab it."

"That was reverse psychology," Blaine countered. "I knew you were gonna get it."

I rolled my eyes, but before I could respond, I heard Jeff's voice calling us from the entrance to the game room - he'd gone back to the table to see if our pizza had arrived. "Hey, guys, come on back," he shouted above the noise in the small room. "Food's here."

The rest of the guys sprinted over towards the table in a mad rush; I stayed behind with Blaine and kept pace with him as he hobbled across the restaurant. He smiled appreciatively as I pulled out a chair for him at the end of the table.

"Called it," David announced as I plopped my teddy bear into Blaine's lap.

"Like it was really a surprise," Luke mumbled to him. Seeing my friends act like this around us made me so happy. They treated us just like they would treat a heterosexual couple - they didn't make faces when we flirted openly, they didn't make snide comments when we kissed. Getting this reaction of acceptance from them made me almost as happy as Blaine did.

I reached for a slice of pepperoni and set it on my plate, picking up my napkin to dab the grease off the top. "It'll be bad for my complexion," I explained with a sigh when I noticed Blaine looking at me with a confused expression. "My skin will look like crap."

Blaine reached over and gently plucked the napkin from between my fingers. "Haven't I told you this before?" he murmured, his face close to mine. "You're _gorgeous_, Kurt."

My breath got caught in my throat. Suddenly this moment seemed so _intimate_ - I cast a quick, furtive glance around the table; thankfully the rest of the guys were busy cracking jokes amongst themselves and shoving pizza into their mouths. But I didn't get to take too long of a look at the rest of the group before I felt Blaine's fingers brush against my face, drawing my attention back to him.

"I've told you that, haven't I?" he said under his breath.

I somehow managed to nod. "Y-yes."

"You'll always be the most beautiful boy in the world to me," he continued, giving me a soft kiss. "I just wish you could see yourself through my eyes..."

There was nothing I could think of to say that would justify that, so I sighed and surrendered to his kiss. It didn't last long - we weren't opposed to PDA, but tried not to go overboard.

Blaine smiled at me as we pulled away from the kiss. "By the way, thanks for the bear." He closed his eyes, still smiling as he squeezed the teddy bear that had been sitting in his lap, looking so ridiculously cute it was almost hard to look at him.

I returned his smile and leaned over to give him a hug. "Anything for you."

…

"This is the library," I told Blaine, gesturing to an imposing Gothic-looking structure to our left. "It's the oldest building on campus."

Blaine grinned triumphantly, and I could have sworn I saw him blushing in the moonlight. "We made out in there," he said proudly.

"Yes, we did," I giggled.

We'd gotten back from the restaurant about an hour ago and I was in the process of showing Blaine around campus, refreshing his memory. Classes started up again tomorrow, so I figured this would be a good idea - plus, I just wanted an excuse to be alone with him away from the loud music and commotion as a result the guys enjoying one more night of freedom in our dorm building. It was a picturesque night with the way the snow drifted down slowly from the sky in lazy little flakes, illuminated by the light of the full moon and seemingly infinite stars.

Blaine smiled shyly as he hobbled over towards the fountain in front of the library - it wasn't on, what with it being January and all - and sat down on the edge, leaning his crutches up against the fountain next to him. He reached for my hand and pulled me down so I was sitting next to him, then wrapped his arms around me and let his smile grow bigger as he rested his head on my shoulder.

"It's easier for me to do this when I don't have to worry about these stupid things," he murmured, kicking his crutches and not seeming to care when they slipped over. "I miss being able to hold you like this all the time, even standing up. But it's easier to cuddle like this."

I wrapped my arms around his torso and pulled him closer to me, kissing his forehead. "Cuddling trumps all."

"Agreed." He looked up at me and suddenly his eyes seemed to go wide, though I couldn't quite put my finger on the emotion that filled them. Awe?

"By the way, Kurt, you look really beautiful in the moonlight," he whispered. I felt a chill race down my spine, a chill that most definitely was not from the cold.

I opened my mouth to respond but no words came out. When Blaine said things like that to me - things that nobody had ever told me before - it always seemed like I could never think of something to say in response. It was like that Gaga song: _Oh, boy, you've left me speechless. So speechless_...

A tiny snowflake fluttered down from the sky and landed delicately on Blaine's lower lip. Without thinking, I leaned down and pressed my tongue against the spot where the snowflake had landed, melting it away, bringing a smile to Blaine's lips beneath my tongue.

"You taste amazing," I murmured, pressing my lips against his in a proper kiss.

"As do you."

"Mmmm."

Forget partying in the dorm, I thought happily as I kissed Blaine. This was a much better way to spend our last night of winter break.


	12. Chapter 12

**I fail at updates lately and I'm sorry about that. I have exams this week that have been stressing me out...first day is tomorrow, I get to take my math midterm at 7:30 am. And I am SO PSYCHED loljk. Because I am totally going to graph quadratic parabolas in my future career as a broadcast journalist...seriously, why do we have to know this stuff?**

Oh, and I forced one of my friends to start watching Glee (he's never seen it before). Last night he's watching Special Education & I get this text from him: "The guy who sang Hey Soul Sister is really good." I reply all "FUCK YEAH DARREN CRISS" & he's just like "I don't know his name but he's really good." Yaaaay new fans :D /randomness

Anyway. Once exams are over and I have a four-day weekend, I'll have more time to write. This chapter can only be described as what I like to call Angsty Fluff...it takes place a week after the last one (I finally proofread something for once in my life and realized I never said when it happens. So yeah.)

I own nothing. 

Chapter 12

"Kurt. Breathe."

I glared at Blaine as I made a big show of gulping down a deep breath. "I _am_ breathing."

"You're purple." He reached over and gently brushed the back of his hand against my face. Along with the shade of purple that was apparently coloring my skin due to my lack of oxygen intake, his touch brought with it a blush of immense proportions. I could only imagine what color I was now.

"It's going to be _fine_," Blaine said reassuringly. "I just think it'll be a good thing for us to talk to him. Make him feel a little better about himself...think about it, Kurt. He probably feels horrible."

"Good," I mumbled, staring at my cuticles. Quite honestly, the lobby of this police station was the last place I wanted to be. And talking to Karofsky again was the last thing I wanted to do. But this time would be easier...I hoped. Blaine was with me. Or maybe seeing Blaine and I together would just piss Karofsky off and make him want to hurt Blaine even more. I prayed to Finn's now-nonexistent Grilled Cheesus that that wouldn't be the case.

Blaine sighed and reached over to gently cup my face, turning my head towards him so I had nowhere to look but straight into his eyes. "Please, Kurt," he whispered, sending a chill down my spine. "Please try to be open minded about this? I know it's hard, but you'll feel so much better. Trust me."

I tried to respond, but his gorgeous face was just inches away from mine and he was so captivating...I eventually managed to choke out some noise that sounded like, "Gah."

"So you'll do it?" Blaine must have been able to read my mind despite my unintelligible verbal response. I decided that trying to speak again probably wasn't a good idea, so I simply nodded.

"Thank you," he whispered, closing the short distance between us by giving me a short, sweet kiss that lingered on my lips long enough to make me want more.

"I still hate him," I muttered as I pulled away from the kiss. Blaine looked at me and opened his mouth to protest, but I cut him off before he could get a word out. "_But_ I'll give him another chance to say what he has to say if it will make you happy."

"Kurt and Blaine?" The same police officer who had spoken to us in his office two weeks ago stepped into the lobby from a door that led down the long, bleak hallway to the visitation area of the prison. "Mr. Karofsky's ready to see you now."

I stood up and exhaled deeply. "Okay." Blaine squeezed my hand before he stood and propped himself up on his crutches and we began to follow the officer as he made his way down said hallway.

"You're purple again," Blaine commented under his breath to me as we followed the cop, and right away I noticed that once again, I'd been too nervous to breathe.

"I'm nervous," I admitted, softly enough that only Blaine would be able to hear me.

"It's okay. I'm here with you...everything's going to be fine."

"You're the one he wanted killed!" I hissed. The officer in front of us cast a glance over his shoulder at me. I continued under my breath. "Blaine, I...I'm just scared he'll try to hurt you again. But I won't let it happen. I promise." I swore silently to myself that I would die if it meant protecting Blaine. There was no way I would let that asshole Karofsky hurt my boy again if I could help it.

Blaine couldn't respond because we'd stopped outside a door similar to the one that led to the room in which I'd spoken to Karofsky the first time. But as the officer typed a password into a small keypad, I glanced at Blaine out of the corners of my eyes and saw a tender, shy smile gracing his face.

This room was different than the other room; I noticed that as soon as the officer pulled open the door and we stepped inside. For one, this room was a lot smaller. Second, there was no glass separating criminal from civilian, which, I had to admit, freaked me out a little bit. There were only six people in the room - Blaine, myself, two police officers who had already been inside guarding the door, the officer who had led us to the room...and Karofsky.

He looked pretty much the same as the last time I'd seen him, save for the fact that he was now clad in a tacky orange prison jumpsuit. He sat slumped over in a chair in the middle of the room; across from him were two more chairs. It was to these chairs that one of the officers gestured as she told Blaine and me to sit down. We complied, sitting down right across from the man who had turned our entire world upside down; I inconspicuously tried to scoot my chair back away from him a few inches.

Blaine was the first person to break the uncomfortable silence that lingered in the air for a few seconds after we'd sat down. "Hello," he said to Karofsky, his tone polite as always. "I don't think we've ever formally met...my name is Blaine Anderson."

He reached his hand out towards Karofsky, who glanced up at one of the police officers to see if he was allowed to shake it. The officer nodded. Karofsky shook Blaine's hand limply for a second before pulling his own away.

"Hi," he whispered. His voice was saturated with even more sadness, more guilt than last time. He looked at Blaine for a second, sizing him up, then attempted a smile in my direction. "Well, you have good taste, Kurt. He's gorgeous."

"Thank you," Blaine and I said at the exact same time. We exchanged a side glance and smiled at each other and smiled before turning our attention back to Karofsky.

Once again, it was Blaine who instigated the conversation. "How are you doing?" he asked politely. Leave it to Blaine to be a perfect gentleman even while speaking to the guy who'd wanted him killed.

"I'm okay." Karofsky shrugged. "Hey, um, Blaine?"

"Yes?"

"I'm...really sorry. Kurt, you too. I just...I'm so jealous of you-," he looked at Blaine, "because you got what I've wanted since I realized I was gay in sixth grade."

Blaine nodded slowly. "Kurt?"

"Yeah." The lighting in the room was dim, but I could have sworn I saw Karofsky blush. "I've always had a crush on him since then." I did not appreciate being spoken about as if I wasn't even there. "And I was just so, so afraid of it. I didn't think I was normal. I've been so used to seeing all the narrow-minded homophobics-,"

"Homophobes?" Blaine corrected gently.

"Yeah, that. I've been so used to seeing how all those homophobes in our town had always treated Kurt. I was so afraid they'd start doing that to me...so I covered it up. I presented myself as the pin-straight all-American jock. And of course, I picked on Kurt, too, so the rest of the people in this shallow town could think I was just like them. Just as homophobic as they are."

I stared at him. By this point, there was a single tear rolling down his face as more and more emotion choked his voice. Karofsky continued quietly; I had to lean in closer to hear.

"But it _killed _me inside, Kurt. It killed me to see that hurt in your eyes every time I pushed you. I just...I just wished I could hold you, kiss your tears away...but I couldn't, because before I knew it, you were gone. You transferred to Dalton." He smiled emotionlessly. "And then I found out you were taken. By him.

"I don't know what happened. Something just...pushed me over the edge, I guess. Now that you were officially unattainable, I just wanted you _that_ much more." I didn't even realize he'd been looking right into my eyes until he dropped his gaze at this moment. "And you know where it goes from there."

None of us said anything for a good, long time. It very easily could have been a full five minutes, though I wasn't keeping track. Once again, Blaine was the one to break the silence.

"Dave...may I call you Dave?"

Karofsky nodded.

"Come here, Dave."

Karofsky stared at him.

"I can't get up and walk over to you," Blaine said with impatient politeness.

Karofsky hesitantly stood up and walked the short distance over to where Blaine sat, stopping in front of his chair.

Blaine looked up at him for a second, then stood up carefully, balancing on his good leg. Then, in a brief moment that surprised every single one of us in that room, he reached up to wrap his arms around Karofsky's thick neck and pulled him down into a hug.

Karofsky stood completely still for a moment, not knowing how to respond. His facial expression gave the impression that he was being crushed, although I knew that wasn't the case - Blaine could probably easily hide behind him - instead, I realized it was shock. Shock that quickly melted into guilt as he squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face into Blaine's shoulder. I didn't realize he was crying until I saw his broad shoulders quivering with sobs.

Blaine said nothing as Karofsky cried, just kept his arms around him and rubbed his back reassuringly. Still sitting, I looked up at the two of them, my gaze wandering over to Blaine in quiet awe. He had so much more courage that I could ever dream of having...being able to comfort the man who'd wanted to kill him just a few weeks ago. I couldn't even imagine...

"You love him," Karofsky murmured into Blaine's shoulder quietly, simply stating a fact.

"Yes, I do," Blaine told him, his voice calm. "I love him very much."

"Good." Karofsky's voice was choked with more sobs. "After all the shit I put him through, Kurt deserves someone who's going to treat him right." He gently slipped away from Blaine's hug and smiled shyly at me. "You're a lucky man, Blaine, I'm not gonna lie."

"I know I am." Blaine turned to smile at me also. "Listen, we'd better get going. But thanks so much for letting us come in and talk to you."

Karofsky shook his head as I stood up and handed Blaine his crutches. "No, thank _you_," he insisted. "Thank you for coming...I hope you know that I really, truly am sorry." His eyes flickered back and forth between both of our gazes. "Both of you. And good luck...you guys make a nice couple, y'know?"

I smiled and felt my face getting warm as Blaine leaned up to kiss my cheek. "Thanks," I said with sincere gratitude. "I'm glad Blaine made me come talk to you...I feel a little better about everything now."

Karofsky exhaled an obvious sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god...don't get me wrong, I still feel horrible about what I did, but getting my side of the story just feels like so much weight got lifted off my chest."

"I understand," I said, nodding as I turned to follow Blaine and one of the officers out the door. "Take care, Dave."

The officer shut the door behind us and led us out to the lobby again. The whole time, I felt Blaine's eyes shining on me with admiration, but I didn't dare look at him. I knew that the second I did, I would probably burst into tears because he was _right_. Talking to Karofsky had surprisingly made me feel so much better; I completely understood how he felt when he said that our conversation was like a huge load being lifted off his chest. Karofsky had been afraid of who he was - just like I had been when Mercedes smashed the windshield of my Navigator because she thought I was straight and leading her on; just like Blaine had probably felt that night when he was fourteen, standing on the curb in front of the only home he'd ever known, not allowed to go back inside. He hadn't handled it very well, I had to admit that much, but the most important part was that I finally understood.

…

"So...?"

Blaine was grinning at me expectantly from across the table where we sat inside Starbucks. The off-campus shuttle back to Dalton wasn't coming to pick us up for another ten minutes, so we'd decided to stop for coffee and kill the rest of the time. But with the way he was looking at me now, I had absolutely no idea how he wanted me to respond.

I raised one perfectly manicured (if I do say so myself) eyebrow. "So...what?"

"Didn't that go a lot better than you thought it would?"

I sipped my low-fat caramel macchiato, not wanting to give him bragging rights just yet. "I guess so...," I shook my head. "Who am I kidding. _Yes_, Blaine. I feel so much better about everything now."

"I don't want to say 'I told you so,' but...," Blaine giggled as he squeezed my hand across the table. "But really, Kurt, I'm so proud of you for what you did back there."

"What did I do?" I couldn't recall doing anything special.

"You opened your mind. You finally realized that deep down inside, Dave struggled with the same things we did. Unfortunately, he didn't cope with them in the best way and now he's in jail, but you know what I mean."

I nodded. "Yeah...thanks for the coffee, by the way." I smiled as I held up my half-empty macchiato cup.

Blaine shrugged one shoulder. "No big deal, I just figured you're cute enough that you deserve to be spoiled."

"Blaine, stop," I giggled, feeling myself blushing a furious red as he reached for my hand again and started playing with my fingers.

"_Never_." He pretended to laugh like an evil villain in a horror movie and failed miserably, but that somehow made it cute. "And you're adorable when you blush."

"Oh my god, Blaine, if you don't...," I shrieked a little bit as he somehow managed to scoot out of the booth and hop on his good foot over to my side, sliding in beside me and cupping my now-insanely-red cheek in the palm of one hand. I'm sure we were causing quite a bit of a scene. I was too happy to care.

"Aww, am I embarrassing you?" He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me against him. I squirmed in a halfhearted attempt to break away, but that just made him pull me closer, which in turn made me happier. Blaine put his lips right against my ear, giving me the chills as he whispered, "Because if you get any cuter, I might just have to kiss you."

"Blaaaaine...," I knew my voice sounded horrendously whiney, but I didn't care. "Let me _go_." It's not that I really wanted to be anywhere but in his arms. I just wanted to see how he'd react...plus, I wanted that kiss and I was trying desperately hard to be cute.

"You asked for it...," Blaine smiled as his lips covered mine. He kissed me once, short, staccato, broke away, a longer one that still wasn't long enough before he pulled back and smiled at me in that way of his that made me feel like I was the most venerated person in the world.

"You're still blushing." He smiled and kissed the tip of my nose.

"Blaine?"

"Yeah?"

I smiled. "Shut up and kiss me again."

He did.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hellllooooo, lovely readers. How nice to see you again. I had fun writing this one...kinda sexy, kinda sad, kinda happy. Good times.**

Oh, and a lot of you have been asking me about this: Yes, Blaine is going to keep his promise :) I figure I might as well put it out there now because I know smut isn't for everyone and some people are a little uncomfortable with it. That's totally fine. Just giving you a warning in case you're one of those people...it might be coming up in one of these next few chapters here. I dunno for sure yet. We'll see ;D

Btw. For the intensive purposes of this story, Kurt is a junior and Blaine is a senior. Just throwing that out there.

Chapter 13

Much to my pleasant surprise, January flew by a lot more quickly than I thought it would. Before I knew it, January 17, the one-month anniversary (for lack of a better word) of the attack, was staring Blaine and me right in the face. Neither of us acknowledged it verbally, but we both knew. One month ago, we never thought we'd be in this position - me with a long, deep scar that would forever mark the skin above my right shoulder blade; Blaine with a broken leg and a subpar memory - but miraculously enough, we'd made it. And I was proud of both of us because of that.

At this point, Blaine would only have to use his crutches for about three more weeks before he could get his cast off. I smiled to myself as I did the mental math - he had to use the crutches for six weeks from the day we left the hospital, which was Christmas day. Incidentally, Blaine's birthday happened to fall exactly six weeks after Christmas. And there was a certain something he'd promised to make good on after he got his cast off - something I was looking forward to very, very much.

I know, I know. You're probably thinking, "Kurt, calm down, you're a sex-crazed hormonal teenager." And maybe that's part of it, but I knew that wasn't entirely the case. Fact of the matter - I was in love with Blaine. The feelings I had for him were so much more potent, more powerful than any other crush I'd ever had: Finn, Sam, et cetera. And knowing that he loved me back just made me love him even more. As the days passed, I found myself eagerly looking forward to February 5.

Not that Blaine and I had ever set a specific date for when we would do the deed. But I had a feeling it would be as soon as possible after he got his cast off - specifically, that very night. And what a great eighteenth birthday present it would be. We never verbally acknowledged it, but I knew he wanted it just as much as I did. Our makeout sessions became more frequent and more passionate. We never went as far as we did that magical night on the couch in the senior commons, but that was okay with me. The next time he touched me like he had that night, I wanted it to be in (or slightly before) _the _moment - the moment we went all the way. I knew it would be so, incredibly, beyond worth it.

And so, as time continued to creep lethargically past over those last three weeks, I began making some small changes to my lifestyle. For one, I stopped using so much product in my hair. I'd come to realize that Blaine liked to intertwine his fingers into the hair on the back of my head as we kissed, holding our faces together, which was considerably harder to do when my hair was stiff and coiffed with gel and hairspray. I started slowly, gradually weaning myself off of it. Before long, all my bottles of hair product had been banished to the scarcely opened bottom drawer as my dresser.

Also, I started wearing more scarves, which helped to cover the ever-growing number of hickeys that Blaine may or may not have created on my neck during our frequent makeout sessions. And I may or may not have locked myself in my room one evening with a cherry popsicle, which I may or may not have then proceeded to lick and suck in the most seductive way possible...practicing.

And Blaine may or may not have unexpectedly walked in on me during said practice session while I was in the process of deep-throating said popsicle. And I may or may not have been making some kind of strange noise that was a combination of Blaine's name with some deep, guttural moans while doing so.

"Um, Kurt?" The sudden sound of Blaine's voice sent me into such a shock that I practically swallowed the popsicle whole, stick and all. I grabbed it before it could slide down my throat and winced when Blaine spoke again.

"I'm not...interrupting anything, am I?" Blaine asked the back of my head. I didn't care. I refused to turn and face him, considering the fact that I could feel my face turning as red as the popsicle.

_No, I'm just imagining this popsicle is your cock and I'm fucking you with my mouth, It's all good, you can stay here and chat. _"N-no," I stammered, feeling more blood rush up into my face. "I was just eating a popsi- ...wait, how'd you even get in here, anyway?"

My voice rose a little bit near the end so that I practically squeaked out the question with shaky defensiveness. Blaine noticed.

"Would it be better if I just pretended I didn't see that just now? I really need to talk to you, it's kind of important."

"Yes. Yes it would be better if we both pretended that never happened." I was speaking quickly, embarrassingly nervous, my back still facing him.

"Can you...look at me?" Blaine asked gently.

I inhaled a ragged breath and slowly turned around to look at him. The moment my eyes met his, I immediately felt the blush that had been fading race back onto my face. Pretend it never happened. Right. Easier said than done.

"Thank you," Blaine said appreciatively, sitting down on the edge of my bed and setting his crutches down on the floor. "So...I guess I should just say it. I got a letter from the Tisch School of Fine Arts at NYU today."

His face confused me. He looked like he was trying to hold back an elated smile, but at the same time, he looked like he was dreading what he had to say next. Before I could even begin to decipher his expression, he continued.

"They saw the audition tape I sent them, and they _loved_ it. They want me to come up there during spring break for a live audition, and if they like what they see, they're going to offer me a full ride scholarship into their music program."

Okay, now he was full-out smiling. That I could live with. Without thinking, I squealed something unintelligible and threw my arms around him, being careful not to get him sticky with popsicle runoff. "Blaine, oh my god, that's amazing! And you said you'd never get into Tisch." I pulled away and smiled at him. "I knew you would, though. Your voice is flawless; they would have been crazy not to consider you."

"Thanks," Blaine said with an almost shy smile. "But...Kurt, there's just one problem."

"What's that?"

"That school is part of NYU. _New York University_." He looked me straight in the eyes as he said those three words slowly, waiting for it to sink in. It didn't take long.

"Oh," I mumbled, frowning as I dropped eye contact. "And we live in Ohio. I'll be a senior next year, I'll still be here. But you..."

"...will be a few states away." Blaine finished my sentence for me, then sighed. "Look, Kurt, I sent them that tape just for kicks - I never even thought they'd watch it, let alone consider me for a full ride. But...but I've wanted to be a singer my whole life, and Tisch at NYU has one of the best music programs in the country. If I paid for my own tuition there, it would be twenty thousand dollars per term."

I sucked in a breath through my teeth; Blaine simply nodded as he continued. "Yeah. That's a lot. And I have the chance to get it all for free...but I don't know if I can." He was practically whispering now. "Kurt, I...I don't know if I would be able to handle being that far away from you."

Okay, now I was borderline angry. Here Blaine had the chance of a lifetime, and he was worried about _me_? Yes, I knew it would be hard to have him so far away, but I wasn't going to let him throw away this opportunity just because of me.

"No," I insisted, slapping him lightly on the arm with my free hand. I reached under his chin and pulled his face towards me so he was looking straight into my eyes, keeping my fingers wrapped around his jaw so he couldn't move his head. "Blaine Darren Anderson, you listen to me. You're going to that audition in the spring. I'll even come with you, if you want. And if they decide to give you the scholarship, you're going to accept it. This is an _amazing_ opportunity, Blaine. You have the chance to live your _dream_...I'm not going to let you flush it all down the toilet because of me."

Blaine sighed somewhat in defeat. "Okay," he said. "But Kurt, I still would want to be with you. I would have every intention of making a long-term relationship work out, because there's nobody on this earth I'd rather be with than you." His hazel eyes were penetrating my soul and I couldn't look away. "I promise, Kurt. I'll call you every night, maybe try to come home once a month or so on a weekend so we could see each other...," he smiled as he trailed off. "It might be a little hard, and I'd miss getting to see your gorgeous face every day, but I think we could make it work. I'd rather have you long distance than not have you at all."

I smiled as I leaned in to press my lips softly against his. "That's my boy," I whispered in between kisses, not even noticing that the juice from the melting popsicle I still held was starting to run down my fingers. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you." Blaine had given up trying to hold back his smile and was letting it shine, making the room significantly brighter. "I was just...freaking out about how it would be able to work out, and you made me feel so much better about it, and...oh."

"Oh, what?" I asked warily in response to his abrupt pause.

Blaine was no longer looking me in the eyes, instead, he was staring at my hand. "You might want to finish that popsicle before it melts even more."

I reached over onto my desk and grabbed the wrapper, placing the now-half-liquid popsicle gently inside. "I think it's hopeless."

"Here." Blaine reached for my sticky red hand and brought it closer to his face. My eyes widened but stayed locked on his as he gently slipped one, then two, then three of my fingers into his mouth and began to suck them slowly, licking the remnants of the melted popsicle away. All of a sudden I wasn't...I couldn't...

"Ohhhh," I sighed, letting my eyes slowly fall shut, feeling my coherency slipping away with each passing second. He swirled his tongue around the tips of my fingers and I whimpered. "_Blaine_."

I could have sworn I saw a faint flash of a smile pulling up the corners of his lips around my fingers, but I may have just been imagining it. My mind wasn't exactly functional as I felt his extremely talented mouth working around my fingers like that...I could only imagine how good it would feel wrapped around another part of my body.

I had just managed to inhale a stark gasp as Blaine softly slipped my fingers out of his mouth but kept them near his face. His eyes remained on mine as he kissed my knuckles, my fingertips, the small curve of skin between my thumb and index finger. As he spoke, his voice drifted through the air in the form of a low, seductive whisper that spread goosebumps over every inch of my skin.

"You had a little popsicle juice on your hand."


	14. Chapter 14

**This idea randomly popped into my head today and I knew I had to write it. The beginning is a little vague, and I realize that, but everything will start to make sense in the next chapter.**

I'm really excited about where this story is going. I have some ideas that I'm especially psyched out of my mind about, maybe even moreso than the sex scene (which I've been planning in my head ever since like, chapter 2). *clamps hand over mouth* Um...I told myself I wasn't gonna talk about that, for fear of spoiling it. I won't say when exactly it will happen, but I _will_ say that the next chapter is Blaine's birthday. So I don't know. It might be soon :D

Good news: I have a 4-day weekend because exams are done. *raises the roof* Bad news: I probably won't be able to write much over it. Tomorrow I'm going shopping with one of my friends and then cheerleading at my school's basketball game, Saturday I have voice lessons and then I'm gonna be out really super late that night, so I'll probably sleep late on Sunday, and then Sunday afternoon I have choir rehearsal. Monday...I think I have to babysit but I'm not sure. If not, I'll probably end up writing some of this just because, like I said, I'm reallysuperexcited about the next few chapters I'm planning. Yaaaay.

I'll stop talking now and let you read this one.

Chapter 14

Blaine's announcement about his audition at NYU in the spring had given me a lot of little ideas. Actually, it was one big, huge idea with a bunch of little components. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell him about any of it yet because it was part of his birthday present, so in order to make it work, I had to avoid him reluctantly for a little bit.

So I locked myself in my room with my laptop for an entire afternoon after class, telling Blaine I needed to do a ton of research for a project. It wasn't entirely a lie. There _were_ some things I needed to research, and the more I thought about it, this surprise I was planning for him _was_ kind of like my own little project.

The only problem was that said project was going to cost me a ton of money. It wasn't _that_ big of a problem - I'd gotten about three hundred dollars in Christmas money, none of which I'd spent yet, and I'd been saving more money than ever before ever since I came to Dalton and stopped shopping for designer clothes so often (there was _one_ upside to the uniforms). I quickly plugged all the combined expenses into my calculator and died a little inside when I saw the result that appeared on the screen - I would be able to afford it, but I'd be nearly broke after all was said and done. I sighed to myself as I returned my attention back to my laptop and confirmed another order, finally deciding I didn't care how much it cost. Blaine was so worth it.

There was one more thing I needed to buy, and as I typed in the web address, suddenly it hit me that there was someone who would be able to help me with this - my stepmother. I could feel my face lighting up as I pulled my phone out of my pocket and poised my fingers to dial Carole's number...then remembered that Blaine was right in his and Wes's room down the hall. What if they overheard me? And if not them, what if one of the other boys on our floor overheard me describing my plan to Carole and decided to tell Blaine?

I couldn't take that risk. This was too delicious of a surprise to be spoiled. I quickly pulled on my favorite Marc Jacobs overcoat and hurried out the door, down the hall to the ancient elevator, which seemed to be agonizingly slower than usual today. Finally, seemingly a lifetime later, it came and I boarded it, jabbing my finger repeatedly against the button for the bottom floor. More painfully slow seconds passed before the doors opened and deposited me in the lobby of our dorm building. I raced outside, not stopping until I had ran around the side of the building, out of sight from anyone who may have happened to pass by or leave the building.

This was far enough away, I decided. I opened my sweaty palm that had been clutching my phone for dear life and quickly dialed Carole's number as I panted to catch my breath. I pressed the phone to my ear, casting furtive glances at my surroundings every few seconds to make sure nobody was coming.

She answered on the first ring. "Hello?"

"Carole, hi," I replied breathlessly. It felt so good to hear her voice. It gave me the feeling that maybe my crazy surprise had a chance of working after all.

"Kurt? You sound like you just ran a marathon. Breathe, honey."

"I know," I gasped. "I ran outside to call you because I couldn't risk someone overhearing what I have to ask you."

"Okay..." The way she trailed off implied that I should continue.

I quickly explained to her my plan, practically whispering under my breath just in case. Thankfully, Carole was the kind of open-minded woman who would understand this crazy plan completely. She didn't scream at me, "You're _insane_, Kurt! You're only a teenager, you can't afford all this?" the way most parents probably would have. Living with a gay stepson and taking in the boyfriend of said stepson for a week after the two were violently attacked had opened her eyes to just how important this was to me.

"...and I know you have connections - for lack of a better word - so if you could just find out from him somehow if I'd be able to get a discount, that would be _amazing_," I finally finished.

"No problem." I could practically see her nodding through the phone. "I'll go email him right now and see what I can do."

"Oh my god," I squeaked happily, clutching my phone and bouncing on my toes a little bit. "Thank you so, so, so much, Carole. I owe you big time, this is going to save me a ton of money."

"You're welcome, sweetie. I think it's amazing that you're doing this for Blaine - and for yourself. You two deserve this. If there's anything else I can help you pay for, let me know."

I shook my head. "No, thank you. Just the-," I cut myself off as I glanced around towards the front of the building and saw a group of freshmen heading inside. "Just that one thing," I whispered under my breath, lest they overhear what I was talking about. "I can handle the rest of it. Thanks, though."

"Anytime, Kurt," Carole said. We exchanged a few more minutes of polite small talk before I decided it would be a good idea to get back to my room and finish things up. We said goodbye and I smiled as I ended the call and tucked my phone back into my pocket.

I felt like I was floating as I walked back around the side of the building. I was _so _happy this was going to work out - and I had to admit, I was a little proud of myself for undertaking all this. I just had to keep it a secret until Blaine's birthday - which was why it was almost a little disappointing when I rounded the corner and walked smack into Blaine himself.

"Oh my god, Blaine." My hand flew to my chest over my heart as I tried to catch my breath. "You need to stop scaring me like that."

He shrugged apologetically, which looked like it was difficult, considering he was leaning on his crutches. "Sorry. Luke said he saw you leave and go outside, I came to find you because I needed to ask you something."

"Is it that important that you had to scare me?"

"Yes." He turned and nodded for me to follow him. It was still hard not being able to hold his hand when we walked together, since he had to support himself on the crutches, but it made me feel better to think about the fact that they would be gone in about two and a half weeks.

I followed him as he hobbled along onto the path that led to the center of campus. "Where are we going?" I asked, confused. "Why can't you just ask me here?"

"Because," Blaine replied simply, and that was all he said, as if no other explanation was needed.

I frowned but decided not to say anything. Instead, I stayed right by his side as we walked the rest of the way to wherever we were going in silence.

We stopped at the end of the path - right at the foot of the massive bell tower that towered over Dalton Academy from where it stood smack dab in the middle of campus. I looked up at the huge structure, craning my neck, asking in an expressionless voice, "Blaine, why are we here?"

He nodded towards the small wooden door that was set into the stone wall. On the other side was a set of steps used by people whose job it was to clean or repair the bell or whatever. I had never been inside that door, let alone up onto the balcony on the same level as the bell.

"Go inside," he said.

I pulled the surprisingly heavy door open and held it for him as he swung himself inside to the dank stairwell. Once he was in, I stepped in behind him and let the door fall shut behind us, wincing when it made a loud banging noise.

"After you." Blaine stepped aside so I could get up the stairs. The first step was just about two feet away from the doorway.

I placed one foot on the first stair, then stepped back down. "Blaine, how are you going to get up the stairs on those things?"

An almost-embarrassed smile spread across his face. "I...practiced," he admitted sheepishly. "I came here after class yesterday and practiced going up and down these stairs so I wouldn't fall and make an idiot out of myself when I brought you here today."

I slapped him on the arm. "Blaine, you _are_ an idiot. What if you fell yesterday when you were here alone and hurt yourself even more? Then what would you have done?"

"It's actually pretty easy." Blaine stepped in front of me and swung himself up onto the first narrow step with surprising ease. "I kinda just hop on my good foot and use the crutches to pull myself up onto the next step." He climbed two more stairs in this manner.

I rolled my eyes and stared up at him from the floor below the bottom step. "Blaine, come here."

He stared at me.

"I'm not going to let you hurt yourself. These are really narrow steps, what if one of your crutches slips and you fall down the steps and break your neck?"

Blaine winced. He hobbled awkwardly backwards down the three steps he'd managed to climb.

"Give me your crutches," I told him when he was standing next to me again.

Blaine shot me a confused look, but complied. He handed me the metal crutches and leaned against the wall, standing on his good leg to support himself as I climbed the stairs as quickly as possible, crutches in hand, and leaned them against the edge of the wall at the top, where the stairwell opened up onto the bell balcony. I hurried back down the stairs, almost slipping in my haste.

Blaine was still leaning against the wall where I'd left him. "Kurt, what are you..._ahh_!" He squealed quietly in surprise as I leaned over and scooped him up in my arms.

"I wouldn't be able to live myself if you hurt yourself," I said softly, cradling him against my chest. His slender body fit perfectly in my arms; the fact that he was two inches shorter than me probably helped.

Blaine's eyes softened and he smiled dreamily as I carefully climbed the stairs with him in my arms. His head fell gently against my chest and my heart absolutely melted. For those few seconds it took me to carry him up the stairs, he looked like a little boy. It almost hurt to have to set him down when we reached the top, but I had to. I handed him his crutches and he made his way over to the balcony that surrounded the entire circumference of the tower in front of the bell.

"This is beautiful," I breathed, stepping beside him at the balcony railing. I had never been up here before, and what a sight it was - it was a lot higher up than I'd expected, and I could see all of Dalton laid out below us. The sky was fading into a brilliant orange as the sun slipped below the horizon, the last few rays of daylight shining brightly off the glittering snow. This should be a picture on a greeting card, I thought, or at least in the Dalton admissions brochure.

"Yeah...," Blaine trailed off as he turned to smile at me. "_You're_ beautiful."

I returned his smile as I moved in closer to him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders from behind. "Why did you bring me up here, Blaine?" I murmured, kissing his neck.

"To watch the sunset with me," he said, tilting his head up to allow my lips access to more of the smooth, tanned skin of his neck.

"No, really. You said you needed to ask me something."

"I do. Not until the sun goes all the way down."

I could live with that. I could stand waiting a few more minutes while I stood there watching day slowly melt into night with the boy I loved in my arms. I rested my chin on his shoulder and leaned my head against the side of his neck, breathing him in. If there had ever been a single perfect moment in my life, I decided happily, this was it.

"Kurt?" Blaine pivoted on his crutches towards me once the sky was black and the moon and stars were peeking out from the blanket of night.

"Yes?"

"You know, the Valentine's Ball is coming up here in a few weeks. It's a pretty big deal here at Dalton." He smiled before continuing. "I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go with me?"

Let me get this straight. If, four months ago while I was still at McKinley, you had told me that a beyond gorgeous boy would have me watch the sunset with him before asking me to a dance, I would have laughed in your face. Which is why it was extremely hard for me to grasp the fact that _this_ _was happening_.

I stared at him wide-eyed for a few seconds. He blinked.

"All-boys boarding schools have dances?" was my intelligent response.

Blaine shrugged. "Yeah! It's the Saturday before Valentine's Day so everyone's dates can get here without having to miss school or whatever. But that won't be a problem for me, because my date already goes to this school." His smile faded. "That is, if he agrees to _be_ my date," he finished sadly.

I blinked back the tears that were threatening to come cascading down my face at any moment. _No, Kurt_, I told myself. _You are not going to be a sap and start crying. You are..._

"Nobody's ever asked me to a dance before," I whispered, smiling, my voice thick with the tears I'd surrendered to. They had begun to trickle slowly down my face, one at a time.

Blaine's smile suddenly reappeared. "So is that a yes?"

I nodded. "Yes."

An elated sigh of relief escaped his mouth. "Oh, Kurt, I love you so much."

"I love you too, Blaine." The smile was still there on my face as I put my hand under his chin and tilted his face up to my level. His lips met mine with all the passion in the world, and I kissed him back with just as much love.

For once in my life, I was actually excited about Valentine's Day.


	15. Chapter 15

**Before I say anything about this story, I just have to say how freaking happy I am for our lovely Christopher Paul :,) The Golden Globes last night...oh my god. I knew he was going to win, but it didn't make it any less amazing when he did. Just seeing the look on his face and how emotional he got when they called his name made my heart go all crazy. He's so precious. And then my mom (who likes Glee, but I had no idea she was this big of a Kurtsie) started crying and being all "I'm so proud of him!" which was kind of funny. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought he was her son.**

And then his speech. Blew. Me. Away. I had hearts in my eyes the entire time, and the fact that he sounded like he was about to cry almost made _me_ cry. And I don't cry easily. It just proved to me that he deserved to win more than anyone. I just wanted to run up on that stage and give him a hug (which I would have done, but he was in LA and I live in Ohio so that would have proved difficult). But I've decided to make that my new goal in life: hug Chris Colfer. And it will happen, I promise. My last goal in life was to hug David Archuleta and that happened in September (and I ended up being really awkwardly taller than him...I'm 5'7" and for the longest time I've thought that's how tall he was too...guess not...but Chris is "5'10, 5'11 in heels" in his own words so hopefully that won't happen again. And I'm going on a parentheses rant here).

So the point of me doing all that rambling is just to say that Chris Colfer is the most precious thing to ever set foot on this planet and I just want to squish him (in a loving way). The end.

Anyway, about the story: this took me all afternoon to write, so I hope you guys like it :)

Chapter 15

The glorious day that was February 5 happened to fall on a Saturday this year, which meant that Dalton's cafeteria started serving breakfast at 10:30 to give us a chance to sleep in. When I woke up that morning at about 10:45, Blaine was already gone - he'd made the earliest possible appointment to go get his cast off. He had, however, left a note scrawled on the whiteboard that hung outside the door to my room:

_Good morning :) went to the dr. to get this cast sawed off. Or pulled off. Or however they take casts off lol. I don't know. I guess I'll find out...anyway, point being: next time you see me, I won't be a cripple anymore. Go to breakfast, have fun, I'll probably be back sometime around 10:30ish. Love you :)  
xoxo - B._

So I did what he told me to - or tried to, anyway. I went to breakfast but didn't have very much fun because of the miserable cold. I was so glad it was the weekend and we didn't have to worry about walking through the frigid air all day between classes. It was the perfect day to just sit inside by the fireplace, drinking hot chocolate, cuddling...

"Hey, Kurt," David called back to me from where he stood in the breakfast line, two or three people ahead. "Can you pass me up a fork? I forgot to grab one."

I reached into one of the silverware basket in front of me and grabbed a fork, then leaned over and passed it up to David. He took it and smiled appreciatively as I turned back to the basket and took a fork for myself, despite the fact that the only things on my tray were an orange and a mug of black coffee. I was too excited to digest much of anything.

"Dude, is that all you're gonna eat?" Nick, who had been standing behind me, called out as I stepped out of line and began making my way to the usual table I shared with my friends. "You're the one always getting on our cases about eating a good breakfast. Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," I called back, still walking, not even turning to look at him. I headed across the cafeteria quickly, as if the faster I walked, the faster Blaine would get here. My orange almost rolled off the tray and the coffee threatened to slip out of the mug, but I somehow made it without spilling a drop.

"You're not...eating?" Luke, who was already sitting at our table with Wes and James, raised one eyebrow as I plopped my tray in front of my usual place.

I smiled as I pulled out my chair and sat down. "I'm not filling up too much now. Blaine will be back any minute, and I'm taking him out to lunch for his birthday." I couldn't help grinning as I picked up the orange and began peeling it. "He doesn't know it yet, but I thought I'd surprise him."

As if on cue, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket and immediately fumbled to pull it out, borderline knocking over my coffee mug. My excitement was worth it - the new text message that popped up on the screen said the following:

**From:** Blaine  
Meet me in the front lobby of the dining hall :)

I must have been smiling like a total dork as I shot him a quick text saying I'd be right there, because David rolled his eyes as he set down his tray at his place across the table from me. "Wonder who _that_ could be."

I stood up and pushed my chair in, pulling my coat off the back of it and quickly slipping it on. "Gentlemen, the birthday boy has arrived. It has been a pleasure dining with you this morning."

I bowed with a flourish, turned on my heel, and strutted off, ignoring the sound of Wes's voice calling after me, "You didn't _eat_ anything..."

The cafeteria suddenly seemed much larger than usual as I crossed it as quickly as possible towards the doors that led out to the lobby. I contemplated breaking into a dead sprint, but decided against it when I considered the fact that the room was filled with people walking with trays of food. Knowing my luck, I'd run into someone and something would spill and then I'd have to apologize and help clean it up and meanwhile Blaine would be waiting and I couldn't have that.

I was doing way too much thinking and not enough walking. I decided it wouldn't hurt to walk just a _little_ faster, so I did so.

It was perfect timing. The second I pulled open the door and stepped into the lobby, the other door in the lobby - the one that led outside - also opened. My breath caught in my throat and I stayed frozen exactly where I was, an expectant half-smile on my face as one leg stepped through the door, then another - no cast, no crutches.

Blaine stood in his doorway and I stood in mine, unable to move because I was overcome with so much emotion at the sight of seeing him standing on his own two feet again. My eyes widened and my jaw fell softly and I couldn't do anything but just _look_ at him for a few seconds. Seeing him like this...it meant that everything that had happened since the attack was finally starting to return to some tangible form of normality. Blaine could walk again, he could hold me in his arms while both of us were standing, we could hold hands when we walked together. Simple things. Things we hadn't been able to do for six weeks. Things I would never, ever again take for granted.

Blaine smiled and finally took his first step forward since entering. I somehow remembered the ability to move, because soon enough I followed suit, walking towards him until we met in the middle of the otherwise-empty room. His arms immediately constricted around me, holding me so close to him that I couldn't remember anything else except what it felt like to be adored.

I eventually managed to free my own arms from his tight embrace so I could wrap them around his neck and pull myself in even closer to him. I squeezed my eyes shut and buried my face in his shoulder, breathing in the delicious scent of him, wanting to keep him safe in my arms forever and never let him go.

Neither of us said a word for the longest time, but that was perfectly fine with me. No words were needed - the embrace spoke for itself. We held each other, and although the empty lobby where we stood was technically a public place, this still felt like such a private, intimate moment.

Blaine pulled back just the tiniest bit so he could look me in the eyes. The way he was looking at me...I would have been knocked backwards if he hadn't been holding me upright. There was so much beauty and love and adoration in his eyes and I couldn't help but wonder what the hell I'd ever done to deserve somebody so damn perfect.

It was hard to say who kissed who first. All I knew was that my eyes were slowly fluttering closed, and before I knew it, my lips had met Blaine's. He kissed me slowly; we both knew we had all the time in the world, there was no need to rush. I felt myself getting dangerously weak in the knees, but I was too happy to care much about that.

"Happy birthday," I whispered when we finally broke away for air.

Blaine smiled as he leaned his face in closer to mine, so our foreheads and noses were touching. "Thank you."

"You're eighteen now," I observed with nonchalant innocence. "That means that legally, you're a man now."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "I don't care about that so much, as long as I get to be _your_ man." He kissed the tip of my nose.

I giggled and unwrapped my arms from around his neck, slowly sliding my hands down his chest and bringing them to a rest on his hips. "Yes," I whispered, kissing him softly. "_Mine_."

It would have been a perfect moment if my phone hadn't decided to vibrate at that specific point in time, rudely reminding me that it was the time I'd set the phone alarm for. I broke the kiss with reluctant abruptness. "Oh, crap, that means it's 11:15."

"11:15?" Blaine sounded confused as I took his hand and began pulling him into the cafeteria. "What's so important about 11:15?"

"I requested permission for us to go off campus this afternoon so I can take you out to lunch for your birthday. The off-campus shuttle leaves at 11:25," I explained.

"Kurt, that's very sweet of you, but why are we going in here? The outside door's behind us...,"

I turned around and flashed him what I hoped was a brilliant smile. "I need to show you off to everybody first."

Before Blaine could protest, I was leading him through the cafeteria, head held high with a smile on my face. The door slammed loudly behind us and everyone turned to stare with their eyes wide in awe as they noticed Blaine. I didn't notice. I didn't stop walking until I reached our table, where the rest of the guys were just finishing up. My half-peeled orange and full mug of coffee still sat untouched on my abandoned tray.

"Boys," I announced, letting go of Blaine's hand so I could make a sweeping gesture towards him. "I am proud to present the new, crutch-less Blaine Anderson."

Blaine did a little twirl and struck a pose, smiling his million-dollar smile. A few of the guys stood up to shake his hand, welcome him back, and give their happy birthday wishes and congratulations, but I smiled apologetically as I took his hand and pulled him away again. "And we have to leave now. You'll see him later!" I practically had to shout the last part due to the fact that I was almost running with him now.

"Kurt!" Blaine shouted, laughing as we burst through the doors to the lobby and finally the outside doors in quick succession. I broke into a full-out sprint, still holding his hand once we were outside, not even noticing the biting coldness anymore. "What's the hurry? We have plenty of time to get up to the main office parking lot."

"Nothing!" I giggled, slowing down and literally skipping a little bit. "I'm just happy!"

Blaine smiled as he skipped up next to me so that I wasn't dragging him anymore and kissed my already-red-from-the-cold cheek. "You are so cute. You know that?"

"Speak for yourself." I swung our hands between us as we skipped the rest of the way there.

…

"Can I come in yet?" Blaine called in a muffled voice from where he stood in the hall outside the closed door to my room. It sounded like he was trying very hard to use a polite tone, but there was still an undertone of adorable impatience.

"Not yet," I yelled back. We'd just gotten back from the restaurant, where we'd enjoyed a satisfying lunch together, a few minutes ago, and I was rushing madly around my room, putting his present together. The different parts of his present had arrived in the mail from their respective shipping companies over the course of the past week. I'd hidden all the various components of it in different places throughout the room, lest he accidentally find something - this way, at least he wouldn't find the whole thing at once and ruin the surprise. Fortunately, however, he hadn't found anything. Now it was all a matter of stuffing everything into the large manila envelope I'd prepared this morning, as quickly as possible. I was too excited to keep this a surprise any longer.

"Okay," I called to him, holding the envelope behind my back after I'd sealed it. "Come on in."

He tentatively opened the door and looked warily at me standing in the center of the room. I smiled and whipped the envelope out from behind my back. Blaine looked at it as if he wasn't sure if he should take it yet.

"_Joyeux anniversaire, mon cher_," I whispered, pushing the envelope into his hands with gentle force.

"_Merci_." Blaine, who took Latin, at least made an effort to use the small amount of French he'd managed to pick up from me during the course of our relationship. He turned his attention to the envelope in order to read the note I'd scrawled over the entire front in black fine-tip Sharpie, his smile widening the more he read.

_To the most amazing guy I've ever met (AKA Blaine Darren Anderson). I was so busy getting the rest of your present organized that I completely forgot to buy a card. Stupid me, I know, but then I realized that wasn't such a bad thing. A generic Hallmark card can't even begin to express how I feel about you. You are so special to me and so I decided I had to get you the most special present possible. I know you're going to look at this stuff and yell at me because of how much money it cost, but if it makes you feel any better, I'm going to get some good use out of this, too. (Sorry, a little selfish). As the dates will tell you, we can't use any of this until spring, obviously, but I hope that's okay. I didn't want to give you something concrete and material...I wanted to give you an experience - one that I will be honored to share with you.  
I love you so much, Blaine. I hope you have the most incredible birthday anyone could ever ask for, because you deserve nothing less. You inspire me more and more every single day. You are __perfect__. Happy birthday.  
Love always,  
Kurt._

I felt myself blushing as he read it - for some reason, I'd thought that expressing my feelings on paper would be easier than doing so verbally, but I guess I was wrong. Thankfully, Blaine looked happy when he finished reading it.

"Oh my god, Kurt," he breathed, moving in closer to give me a hug. "Thank you...,"

"Don't thank me yet." I slipped away from his hug reluctantly. "Look at the rest of the present first."

Blaine rolled his eyes, but went over to sit on the edge of my bed as he pulled the envelope open. I sat next to him, almost bursting with anticipation...I couldn't wait to see the look on his face.

He took the largest item out of the envelope - a stapled packet of paper - and I had the pleasure of watching his eyes grow impossibly wide as he studied it.

"This...is a travel itinerary," he stated.

I simply nodded. "Yes, it is."

"We're going to New York."

"_You_ were already going to New York. Over spring break, to audition at Tisch. I decided to tag along and I planned out a whole weekend for us." I grabbed the envelope out of his hands and dumped the rest of its contents out onto the bed. Various letter-sized envelopes fell out, I picked up one from Ticketmaster. "These are tickets to _Wicked_ on Broadway. We're going the first night we're there. The next day is your audition, and the next day is Opening Day at Yankee Stadium." I grabbed another ticket envelope. "These are tickets to that game. They're playing the Indians, so you get to see your favorite team _and_ go to Yankee Stadium like I know you've always wanted."

"Kurt...you...," Blaine stammered.

"And _then_...," I tossed the Yankee tickets aside and picked up the last envelope. "West Side Story on Broadway the last night we're there." I smiled, stacked up all the ticket envelopes and handed them to him. He took them with a shaking hand. "We don't have like, _amazing_ seats for any of the shows, because I had to keep in mind how much money I was spending, but I still don't think they're bad. And for the game, our seats are in something called the Upper Deck, and I didn't know what that meant so I asked Finn, and he said it's like, the highest section, kinda far away from the field but at least we can see everything that's going on."

I stopped talking in order to give Blaine a chance to react. He just stared at me. I was getting a little worried because he hadn't really said anything yet.

"Do you not like it?" I asked, trying not to sound upset. "Because we don't have to go if you don't want to. Well, _you _still have to go for your audition. I'll stay here...most of the tickets are refundable, I think, except the airplane but that's no big deal. And the hotel..."

"Wait, wait, wait." Blaine held up his hands, cutting me off. I snapped my mouth shut as I realized how embarrassingly quickly I'd been talking. He continued, his voice soft with quiet disbelief. "_Airplane_? _Hotel_?"

"Yeah!" I told him excitedly. "We're flying there and back, and we're staying at the Embassy Suites downtown. Carole's brother-in-law is the manager and he got her a gigantic discount, so she's paying for that. And...there's our spring break. Happy birthday!"

Blaine still didn't say anything. Instead, he scooted closer to me on the bed, wrapped his arms around my neck and buried his face in my chest. I didn't even notice he was crying until I saw his shoulders shaking with sobs.

"Are you okay?" I asked, gently rubbing circles on his back. "Like I said, we don't have to go...,"

"Shut up," Blaine said, but as he picked up his head, I noticed he was smiling. "We're going. It's just...Kurt...this is so incredible."

"You're worth it." I stroked his curls as his head settled on my chest again.

"You didn't have to do all this for me," he whispered. "But thank you. This is _amazing_, Kurt. And...," he smiled dreamily up at me, "I get to share it all with _you_. That's the best part."

"You're welcome," I said softly. "I just wanted to make it the best birthday ever for you."

"We haven't even gone yet," Blaine said quietly, with what seemed to be a permanent smile on his face. "And it already is."

* * *

**More birthday fun in the next chapter, promise. This one was already long enough (3000+ words, not even kidding).**


	16. Chapter 16

**More birthday happy fun times, as promised. I've been working on this ever since I got home from school at around 2:30 (it's now 6:39). Part of the reason it took me so long is because my mom decided to keep randomly walking into my room and talking to me for extended periods of time so I had to slam my laptop shut and act all nonchalant. But I finally finished it. I'm just extremely happy I finally got this chapter out of my system.**

If I owned Glee, you sure as hell better bet this would have happened or would be in the works to happen in the very near future.

Chapter 16

Later that evening, as I stepped out of the shower, my mind was racing. I was thinking about Broadway shows. Versace's new line. Color schemes for my room back home, which I had a sudden urge to redecorate. Anything and everything to get my mind off the fact that I was quite possibly facing my last few moments as a virgin. Blaine hadn't said anything about it all day, but somehow I _knew_. It was going to be tonight. Thinking about it made me so excited and nervous and way more emotions than I even knew the names of, so I decided it was easier just to think about other things.

The pizza party our floor had thrown in honor of Blaine had been slowly dying down over the course of the last ten minutes or so, so I'd snuck away to take a quick shower. I wanted to be nice and clean when it happened, just in case Blaine decided to take my hand unexpectedly and pull me back to my room to have his way with me right then and there. I'd brought a change of clothes with me to the bathroom so that I could get dressed quickly and get back to enjoy what was left of the party.

But when I pulled back the shower curtain and stepped out of the stall, my clothes were no longer there. The _hell_...I clearly remembered setting them down along with my towel on the long bench that stretched across the entire wall across a short aisle from the shower stalls. The only thing that sat on the bench now was the white fluffy towel I'd also brought with me, folded up neatly exactly as I'd left it.

I bent over and peered under the bench, wondering if my clothes had somehow fallen underneath it. They hadn't. I frowned and quickly reached over to grab my towel, unfolded it, and wrapped it around my waist as I stepped hesitantly out into the middle of the spacious bathroom.

It was completely empty. There was no sign that anyone had been there since I'd come in to take my shower. The only noise that echoed off the walls was a creepy-sounding dripping noise coming from one of the sinks as drops of water slowly slipped out of the faucet one at a time. I warily crossed the room and twisted the handle to turn the faucet off all the way; the dripping abruptly cut off when I did so.

I don't know why, but something about this whole situation was creeping me out. I decided the best thing to do would be to leave and go find my clothes...maybe I'd forgotten them in my room after all. That had to be it. Unless someone came in and took them, but that would be ridiculous.

Right?

The hallway was crowded when I stepped out into it - crowded and cold. Actually, it was probably the same temperature as usual, but I _was_ wearing nothing but a towel around my waist. As soon as the heavy bathroom door slammed shut behind me, every head turned to see what had caused the sudden commotion, and when they all saw me standing there practically naked, everyone began to whisper among themselves. It didn't take me long to figure out they knew something I didn't.

Wes and David were standing in the open doorway of the room Wes shared with Blaine, leaning up on opposite sides of the frame, having what appeared to be an intense conversation but immediately snapping their mouths shut when I approached them.

"Either of you guys know who took my clothes?" I asked with impatient politeness.

"Yeah, it was Bla- _ow_!" David immediately cut himself off when Wes stomped on his foot. He continued even as the other boy glared at him. "We're supposed to pretend we didn't see...," another punch in the arm from Wes, "I mean, I don't know."

Wes rolled his eyes. "Since David here pretty much already spilled the beans...yes, it was Blaine."

I stood on my tiptoes and tried to peer around them into the room. "Where is he, is he in there?"

"I know I saw him go into the bathroom a few minutes ago and then he came back out with some clothes. I think he might have gone down to your room," David said with a wry smile. "Said something about, '_Finally_ gonna get my boy tonight,' and, 'You didn't see anything.'"

"I'm not exactly sure what he means by 'getting' you, but _please_ go let him do it," Wes pleaded almost desperately. "_Please_. So I can stop hearing about it every night. I'm not sure if you knew this, Kurt, but Blaine kinda...talks in his sleep sometimes."

I raised one eyebrow. This was news to me. "Elaborate?"

"He must have like, really vivid dreams or something because he narrates them out loud. In detail," Wes said to the floor, his face bright red. As he continued, he started rambling. "Usually starts off by saying all the dirty things he wants to do to you, and before long he's pretty much moaning your name, then screaming it...and apparently he thinks you're hot and tight and that's way more than I ever needed to know about you, no offense..."

"Wes," David snapped, cutting in. "Stop talking before I have to open the window and let all the awkward out."

Oh, dear. Oh my Gaga. This was certainly more than I expected to hear. Suddenly I was extremely self-consciously aware of the fact that I was standing here talking to them in nothing but a towel.

"Thank you, boys, you've been extremely helpful," I mumbled flatly, turning on my heel and heading off down the hall to my room. The guys in the hall parted like the Red Sea as I walked past, and I might have heard someone somewhere behind me call out, "Get it, Kurt!" I didn't dignify that with a response, but still tried to bite back a smile as the excitement bubbled up inside me the closer I got to my room.

Sure enough, when I pulled open the door, there he was. Blaine was lying on my bed on his side, head propped up on one hand, looking absolutely delicious in skin-tight dark jeans and a V-neck long sleeved t-shirt that showed off his collarbone under his tanned skin. His dark curls were uncharacteristically unkempt, which somehow even added to the hotness factor, but I couldn't focus on that now. I had to pretend to be annoyed with him, as difficult as that would be - secretly, I was impressed. He was clever, that boy of mine...

"Hey there, sexy. I didn't know our floor was Clothing Optional." He flashed a cheesy smile.

I made a face as I slammed the door behind me with pretend anger. "Do _you_ know where the hell my clothes are?"

"Shhhh," Blaine whispered soothingly. He stood up and walked over to me, placing his hands gently on my shoulders and guiding me back towards the bed. I prayed to whatever unknown higher being my agnostic self believed in that he couldn't hear my heart, which had started to pound erratically in my chest.

"I put everything back in all the right drawers, don't worry." Blaine's voice was strangely calming as he gently pushed me down onto the bed so I was lying on my stomach with my head on the pillow. "You need to _relax_, baby."

Before I knew what was happening, Blaine was climbing on top of me, straddling my hips, and slowly starting to massage my back. My eyes involuntarily fell closed as his hands kneaded my shoulders and his fingers ghosted down my spine, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind. There was no way I could pretend to be mad at him anymore.

"You couldn't have waited five minutes for me to dry off and get dressed?" I asked softly.

I couldn't see his face, but I heard the smile in his voice. "Why put your clothes on when I would just be taking them off in a few minutes, anyway?" he asked with a small giggle. "I just wanted to make our lives easier. I _did_ think about stealing your towel, too...," as one hand continued rubbing my back, I felt the fingers of another loosening said towel.

I reached back and swatted his hand away. "Not yet." It's not that I didn't want to be naked in front of him - I was more than ready for that, and I wanted him to see me - _all_ of me - but I wanted to take this slowly and savor every kiss, every touch, every single beautiful moment.

The offending hand rejoined the other in rubbing my back. "But I didn't take it, because that would ruin the fun. I want to take it off myself."

I felt an embarrassing amount of goosebumps popping up over every square inch of my skin.

"Blaine...," I sighed.

His hands left my skin and he climbed off of me. A few seconds later, his lips were pressed against the small of my back. My eyes flew open and slowly drifted shut again as he spoke.

"Kurt," he said.

In that moment, I knew. This was happening, and it was happening _tonight_. Here. Now. The way he said my name, simply and in a low, husky whisper, made it glaringly clear to me what he wanted - as if it hadn't already been obvious. And I was going to give it to him.

He continued laying a trail of kisses up my spine. When he reached the top, he kissed his way over to my right shoulder. His lips brushed the length of the long scar I had above my shoulder blade and eventually stopped at the nape of my neck.

"I think you probably figured this out already," he explained, carefully flipping me over onto my back and straddling my waist again, "but the reason I'm here is because I want to make good on my promise."

I wanted to say something along the lines of, _You're right, I __did__ figure it out_, but the way he was looking at me made me lose all coherency. The only sound that escaped my mouth was a broken-sounding noise of surrender.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking at me with concern. His hands paused in the middle of my chest, which they'd been in the process of gently rubbing.

I nodded quickly. "Yeah," I whispered, unable to make my voice audible. "Just...been waiting...for this. So long..."

"I know, sweetheart," Blaine said softly, bending down to kiss me on the cheek. "I want you so much. It's been killing me."

His lips moved from my cheek over to my jaw and down my neck to my collarbone, the length of which they brushed along until they reached the other side. He kissed back up the other side of my neck, to my cheek, finally moving his lips over mine in one fluid motion. My mouth opened upon impact and his tongue snaked inside, meeting mine in a caress of slippery muscle.

I don't know how long it was before he broke the kiss, but eventually he sat up and crawled off of me so his fingers could travel down my chest to the towel at my waist. I choked on my own breath, but still managed to keep my eyes trained on his as one of his hands inched its way down beneath the towel, his fingers eventually wrapping around my completely hard member in the moment I realized I'd been anticipating.

"I may not remember everything just yet, but I _do_ remember the last time I touched you like this," Blaine murmured as his hand slid up and down my shaft, eliciting a quiet moan from my lips. This felt even better than I remembered...

"You like that?" he whispered.

I nodded fiercely. "Oh, god, _Blaine_...yes..."

"You want more?"

The only thing I could do was nod again, and he complied. His hand pumped me faster, and if he kept doing what he was doing, I was going to come right inside this towel. I opened my eyes, which I hadn't even realized had been closed, and immediately found myself looking right into his. Under the towel, his thumb smeared precome over the head of my cock, and I felt myself slipping over the edge...

But just before I hit that point, he pulled his hand out from beneath my towel. Without saying a word, he leaned down and kissed me chastely once, then sat up. His eyes stayed locked on mine as his fingers loosened the towel even more and finally, without warning, slipped it off completely.

Blaine turned to set the towel down on the floor and then returned his attention to me. I lay spread below him, completely exposed, my eyes locked shamelessly on his. I could tell he wanted to maintain this eye contact, but he surrendered and let his gaze travel down over the rest of my body. I swallowed a lump in my throat when he wasn't looking, but when his eyes met mine again, they were filled with nothing but admiration. He hadn't been scrutinizing me - in fact, it seemed that he really liked what he saw.

Before I knew it, his hands were all over me, in so many places at once. There was nothing but pure adoration in his eyes as he touched me.

"So beautiful...," he sighed.

I closed my eyes again and reveled in the fact that I was being touched by another boy. A boy who wanted me...a boy who loved me. A beautiful boy who thought I was beautiful, too. A boy who was now in the process of planting kisses all over my body, smothering every inch of my naked skin, saying things like, "I love you so much," and, "I'm so happy we're going to be each other's firsts,"...

And now, as I realized with immense pleasant surprise, a boy who was moving his lips further down my body towards my cock. He kissed the shaft, then the head, and without pulling his mouth away, opened his lips and swallowed the entire thing down his throat at once.

My eyes immediately flew wide open at the overwhelming sensation of feeling myself in the warmth of his mouth. Without my realizing it, my fingers moved into his hair, twisting into his curls so there was no way he could pull his head away. I held him there against me as he licked and sucked me and my hips involuntarily lurched upwards, forcing him to take in even more of me. I was making some embarrassing noise that was an interesting combination of Blaine's name with phrases like _God, yes_! and _Don't stop, don't __ever__ fucking stop_! There were quite a few moans thrown in there, too. I just couldn't believe how _good _this felt...

And before I knew what was happening, I blacked out and came down his throat, wailing his name as I did so. He swallowed around me, which wasn't difficult considering I was already as far down his throat as possible. His mouth didn't leave my spent cock until every single drop was gone, and when he finished, he let me plop out of his mouth and smiled up at me beautifully. A small drop of my come glistened on his lips, and he licked it up graciously.

"Delicious," he murmured, moving up to face level with me so he could kiss me. I shivered closer to him as I tasted myself in his mouth. When we broke the kiss, he smiled at me a moment longer, then sat up and pulled his shirt up and off over his head.

I didn't realized until that moment that I had never seen Blaine shirtless - and oh, what a sight he was. His small, sexy muscles were beautifully visible beneath his skin, which was noticeably a few shades darker than my own. He tossed the shirt carelessly aside and bent down to kiss me again, flipping us over so I was on top of him. I pressed myself closer to him, my bare chest right up against his, and eventually broke this kiss so I could try something.

My lips moved down his body, just as he'd done to me earlier, but I didn't stop at his collarbone. I kissed down onto his chest and, unable to help myself, let my tongue flick against one of his nipples.

He seemed to like that, judging by how he writhed and let my name fall from his lips in a moan. I held back a smile and sucked the sensitive bud to hardness, my fingers rubbing the other until it was equally rigid. When both were as hard as they were going to get, I kissed my way down the rest of his chest and smiled to myself as I undid the button and zipper of his jeans. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I knew I couldn't wait any longer. As soon as the zipper was taken care of, I wasted no time in doing away with his jeans and boxers.

I allowed myself to stare in awe for a second at the glorious sight before me. He was completely hard, and _huge_ - almost intimidatingly so, but that made it even better. Part of me wanted to sit back and admire all of him at once, but then I remembered the amazing service he'd just done to me. Would it be rude of me not to return the favor, especially with him right in front of my face like this?

Before I could think too much about it, I decided to just do it. I started off slowly with small, teasing licks; I sucked the head into my mouth just a little bit at a time. Blaine groaned with impatience. I smiled around him and slid my mouth up slightly, taking in more of him, before releasing him and drawing a long, slow lick up the entire length. He whimpered and knotted his fingers in my hair, much like I'd done to him, which made me realize something - I was thinking too much about what I was doing. I quickly recapped in my mind what he'd done to me, and how much I'd liked that, so I decided to do the exact same thing.

I took him completely down my throat without thinking about what I was doing. My gag reflex thankfully proved excellent - my mouth wasn't used to being this full, but I enjoyed the taste of him tremendously. His fingers clenched my hair tighter as I swirled my tongue around the head of his cock, and he screamed in pleasure.

"My god, Kurt, _yes_! Yes, Kurt..."

He was gasping for air, and it was obvious he was about to come any second now. Sure enough, I was right: he exploded into my mouth right as I was thinking about that. He'd swallowed me, so I decided it was only fair to do the same. Besides, his seed tasted fantastic...

I kissed back up his body to his face, planting small kisses everywhere in the area around his mouth except actually on his lips. He whined in protest. I smiled and gently kissed the corner of his mouth, the edge of his top lip, nibbled teasingly on the bottom before I decided to give in and kiss him properly.

"You little tease," Blaine whispered, turning us over again so he was back on top. I giggled a little bit, gasping back my quiet laughter when he straddled me and his cock, which was already returning to hardness, pressed up against mine.

"You know you like it," I somehow managed to say as he leaned to the side and reached for something under the bed. He held the object up that he'd grabbed and I gasped again when I realized it was a bottle of lube.

"W-where did you get that?"

"I bought it," he told me, climbing off of me and popping the cap off the bottle. "Ran to the store after I got my cast off."

I made some kind of small whimpering noise as he squirted some of the lube onto his fingers. "Kurt. Relax," he said gently, spreading my legs apart. "It's gonna hurt a little bit, but that's normal. I don't want it to be more any more painful for you than necessary...I'll go as hard or as soft as you want me to."

I swallowed. "Okay," I whispered as he slid his index finger inside me.

He slid that single finger in and out a few times, testing the waters, before hesitantly beginning to push another one inside. I nodded, letting him know I was ready. I felt myself loosening up slightly as his middle finger joined the index and the two scissored inside me to stretch me out. A few seconds later, a third finger joined those two. I bit my lip to prevent myself from crying out - it hurt, but it was strangely pleasant at the same time.

Blaine let me ride those three fingers for a little while, getting used to the sensation before he slipped in his pinky and finally his thumb.

"You feel that?" Blaine asked, leaning down to give me a short but passionate kiss on the lips. "My whole hand is inside you. You're doing amazing, Kurt."

The only response I could manage was a loud, guttural moan as his hand curled inside me and his fingers brushed against my prostate. Finally I regained the ability to speak.

"Blaine, _fuck_..."

He smiled as he stretched me out a little longer with his hand before pulling it out and reaching for the bottle of lube again. I made a small noise of protest at the emptiness but choked it off as he crawled over me again, his erect cock slicked up with lube.

"Kurt," he stated, looking down into my eyes which were pooling up with tears, because what _was_ this? Was this real? It seemed impossible that anything should feel so perfect...so right. "I love you."

"I love you," I repeated in a tiny whisper as I felt him prodding my entrance. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling me down into a kiss before breaking away to look him in the eyes as he slowly pushed further into me.

"Want you...all the way in...," I gasped.

Blaine complied and pushed himself the rest of the way inside me. It hurt a lot more than his hand had, but at the same time, my body was screaming with pleasure at the sensation of him filling me up. He leaned down and kissed my forehead, each of my eyelids, my nose, and finally my lips before his hazel eyes penetrated mine again.

"I'm all the way inside you, Kurt, and you feel _perfect_," he murmured in disbelief with a sigh. We stayed just like that for a second, perfectly still as I felt him. Felt _us_. It was such a beautifully indescribable feeling to be joined with him like this.

Slowly, he pulled out and pushed himself back in, getting me used to having him inside me. He repeated this two or three times before I reached behind him, clawing at the skin of his back, desperate to bring us closer.

"Harder...,"

He didn't question me, just obeyed. The next time he pulled back, he thrust back in harder, rolling his hips against mine, and I cried out his name. Blaine kept doing what he was doing, each thrust slightly more forceful than the last; he wrapped one hand around my cock and pumped me as he thrust and I screamed and moaned and writhed and _fell _to pieces beneath him as he watched.

"So beautiful, Kurt," he whispered gently. With his free hand, he reached up to smooth my bangs back and kissed my forehead softly before resuming the wonderful rhythm we'd created. By now I had tears coating my face; I had literally started _crying_ in the surreal overload of pleasure. I was reaching the edge, I didn't know how much more I could take...

"Blaine, I'm gonna...I'm gonna come, Blaine, oh god..."

Blaine shook his head as his hand cradled my face. "Not yet," he said softly. "Together."

I groaned in protest, but the noise melted into a whimper as he thrust all the way inside me again. I got the feeling he could keep going a lot longer, but by this point, I had to use every last crumb of my strength to restrain myself.

It felt like a perfect lifetime before he traced his fingers lightly over the sensitive skin of my chest and asked in a dark whisper, "Will you come with me now, baby?"

I opened my mouth but couldn't verbally respond. I had nodded quickly once when Blaine's name fell from my lips in the form of a scream, the most high-pitched noise I could ever recall myself making. I thrashed wildly below him as he came inside me, screaming my name as well, our mutual screams blending into each other and fading out as he collapsed onto my chest, both of us gasping desperately for air.

Blaine gave me an innocent kiss as he gently pulled out of me, then lay on his back and pulled me close to him so my head was resting on his chest.

"That was..." I racked my brain, trying to think of a word that would justify what I'd just experienced. "Incredible," I finished lamely.

Blaine laughed and tightened his arms around me. "Understatement of the century," he giggled as I snuggled in closer to him. "But really, Kurt, there are no words to describe what just happened between us. All I can say is that I love you and I hope that proved it."

"It did," I said softly, pressing a small kiss onto the middle of his chest.

He sighed happily and kissed the top of my head. "Kurt, I have to tell you something. Remember that teddy bear you won me at the claw machine?"

"Of course I do."

I could tell by his voice he was smiling an embarrassed smile, and I could feel his skin grow warm with a blush. "Every single night, I fall asleep hugging that bear. Wes teases me about it to no end, but I don't even care." The smile was still there in his voice as he continued more softly. "But tonight is even better, because I get to fall asleep holding _you_."

I smiled up at him in the darkness. "That concept sounds remarkably appealing."

"It does," he agreed as I cuddled down against him again. "Now get some sleep, Kurt. Sweet dreams. I love you."

I was already drifting off to sleep as he leaned down to kiss my forehead. "Love you too...," I murmured drowsily.

Within minutes, I was out cold in his arms, sleeping the best night's sleep of my life.


	17. Chapter 17

**This is short and sweet to make up for the long-ness of the last chapter O_O and it's nothing but pure fluff, I'll just say that right off the bat. I could have written more, because it's already late and we have a snow day tomorrow (welcome to Ohio, where "snowing" is almost always equivalent to "dumping bucketfuls of white precipitation over the entire state, and nobody knows how to drive in it so you should really just stay home") but...I'm tired. lol. The one night I don't have to worry about going to sleep at a decent hour.**

This is completely random but I just felt like sharing. Okay. So I made Blaine's middle name Darren (clever, I know) and whenever I write his full name out, Blaine Darren Anderson, I was wondering why Darren Anderson actually sounded familiar. So I googled it. Turns out it's a real guy. O_O he played in the NFL, I guess. I know nothing about football so it's not that exciting to me but I still thought it was kind of cool.

PS: I have nine words for you. CHRIS AND DARREN ON THE COVER OF ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY. I flailed so hard. I'm gonna go buy that issue sometime tomorrow (if my mom lets me drive to the store, because apparently the snow will make me die). And I will get it custom framed and hang it up on the Wall of Awesome in my room, right next to my personalized Adam Lambert autograph and my Wicked playbill. That is all.

...oh, and I still don't own either of these two sexy boys, unfortunately. And I don't own Darren Anderson, either. I don't know what he looks like so I have no idea if he's sexy, too.

Chapter 17

_Perfection_.

That was the only justifiable word that came to my mind as I picked my head up off the still-sleeping Blaine's chest and just stared up at him. I felt a smile growing on my face as I watched him sleep - his face was so calm and unworried; he looked so beautifully peaceful. I made up my mind that if I had to do nothing but just look at Blaine for the rest of my life, I would be perfectly content.

I sighed happily as I snuggled back down against his chest and reveled in the warmth of his bare skin against mine. Last night...there were no words. Blaine had seen me more sensitive and vulnerable than I'd ever felt before in my life, and yet it had felt so natural, so _right_, as if we'd been made for each other. I couldn't even _believe_ anything could feel so good, but Blaine had proved me wrong last night and I knew I wouldn't trust anybody but him to do those things to me.  
It was funny - even though it had been months ago, it still felt like just yesterday that I'd met him. I remembered the way he'd turned around at the bottom of the stairs and smiled beautifully up at me as he explained the Warblers' rock star status. I remembered the way he'd grabbed ahold of my wrist and pulled me through the empty halls to the senior commons, and I remembered feeling like my entire body was about to dissolve into thin air when his skin came in contact with mine for the very first time.

It had all started with a simple touch, and now here we were.

Still half asleep, my mind lazily considered the fact that we needed to get up and go to class, but I quickly pushed that thought away when I realized a few seconds later that it was Sunday. We could sleep in. Even if it had been a school day, I still probably would have wanted to stay here and sleep in his arms - it's not like I would be thinking about anything else but Blaine while I was sitting in class all day.

I glanced absentmindedly at the clock and my heavy eyelids suddenly felt immediately lighter when I noticed that it was already 10:45. The rest of the guys were probably at breakfast, and I knew for a fact they'd say something to us about last night - particularly Wes, who lacked a little thing called tact and would probably wonder aloud why Blaine hadn't returned to their room last night. I rolled my eyes as I thought of the inevitable wrath - for lack of a better word - and decided I might as well wake Blaine up.

I did so by placing a small kiss on his lips and watching his face soften out of sleep as he opened his eyes.

"Good morning," I greeted him quietly.

Blaine smiled softly and let his arms constrict gently around me as I nuzzled my face against his neck. "Good morning, beautiful. How'd you sleep?"

"Amazingly. Last night was _wonderful_, Blaine. Thank you so much...you have no idea."

"You're very welcome, and thank _you_." He gently tapped my lips with his index finger. "That was all I ever dreamed my first time would be and more."

"Mmmm." I sighed, cuddling up closer to him. "I could say the same," I murmured.

He leaned down to kiss me, and I kissed him back. It was a simple kiss - in fact, it would have been perfectly innocent had we not been naked - but it still didn't fail to send a rush of shivers all over my body.

"I want this," Blaine gasped as we broke the kiss, "this moment right here, for the rest of my life. I want to be able to wake up with you in my arms every morning. I want this forever, Kurt. I want _you_ forever."

It was one of those moments where I couldn't do anything but say, "Oh my god, Blaine," weakly and bury my face in his chest. I'd never felt so loved in my life, and it was not an unpleasant feeling in the least - I just couldn't even dignify that with a response of my own other than the three words I then murmured against his chest.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Kurt." Blaine kissed my forehead, then turned to glance at the clock. "Oh, crap, it's almost 11...we should get down to breakfast before the guys start getting ideas."

I laughed as we untangled ourselves from each other and crawled out of bed. "They probably already have," I told him, then frowned as I realized he had started dressing himself in the same long-sleeved tee and skinny jeans he'd discarded to the floor last night.

"Um, Blaine? As much as I love you, you should know it's a cardinal sin to wear the same outfit two days in a row." I shuddered.

He laughed and leaned over to kiss me on the cheek as he stepped into his pants. "I know, I know. I'm just putting this on so I can walk down the hall to my room and change."

"Good." I smiled in approval as I pulled a shirt on over my head.

Blaine returned my smile. "Yeah, so I'm just gonna go change into something fresh...I'll meet you downstairs?" He was already fully dressed and standing by the door, reaching hesitantly for the knob.

"Wait." I straightened out my shirt and hurried across the room to where he was standing. Once I was beside him, I immediately curled my arms around him and pulled him close to me one more time. I drew in a deep breath and inhaled him. He wrapped his arms around me in turn, placing one hand on the small of my back and the other between my shoulder blades. Neither of us said a word; we stayed there holding each other for one brief moment longer.

Blaine kissed my lips softly once as we broke the embrace. "I'll see you downstairs," he said quietly as he turned to walk out the door.

"Bye," I whispered as he left, not sure if he heard me.

It was the first time I'd been alone since leaving the bathroom last night en route to find my clothes, and without Blaine there, suddenly it all seemed to be good to be true. Something _that_ amazing couldn't have happened to me...but as I remembered this, I suddenly thought of the towel I'd been wearing and turned around, spotting it right at the foot of the bed where Blaine had placed it after undressing me. There was my proof.

I smiled to myself as I turned back around and headed out the door to make my way downstairs. Last night _had_ happened, after all.


	18. Chapter 18

**Helllloooo. Before I start, I have to tell you the most pathetic fangirl story ever that eventually resulted in me finally buying Chris & Darren's EW issue. I had to go on a crazy adventure to find it, literally. Okay.**

Today we had a snow day, but the roads were pretty much clear by this afternoon so my boyfriend and I decided to meet up for lunch. Before I left my house, I texted him and said I was on my way, but I might be a few minutes late because I needed to stop at the store and pick something up before I forgot. He's like, okay. So I stop into the grocery store and make a beeline for the magazine stand, thinking "I'll just grab that magazine, pay, and get out of here." Guess what? They didn't have it. I'm standing there like, checking behind other magazines, looking for it, but the only EW issue they had was the one with Johnny Depp on the cover. I decided to give up and head down to the mall so I wouldn't keep him waiting.

We had lunch, and then we were walking around the mall and the little shopping center thing around the mall, when we decided to go into Barnes & Noble because we were bored. So we did. And I'm all nonchalantly like, "Let's go look at the magazines" because I wanted to see if they had it. We go over to the magazine rack, and I'm standing there pretending to casually glance over everything but really in my head I'm like "I need that EW issue in my life omg where is it." AND I SAW IT. Way down at the end of the rack, right in the very front, with both of their gorgeous faces smiling out at me. I'm like YAAAAY. I mosey on down there to pick it up when this creepy old man who had been standing there randomly started talking to us (I don't make this shit up) so we decided to just smile politely and slowly back away before things started getting too weird. We left B&N and I was sad because I didn't get to buy EW, but then I thought of another genius plan.

My mom told me to be home by 3:30 because I had to get ready for cheerleading, so we left at around 3. After he walked me to my car and we said goodbye and all that, I drive out of the parking garage by myself and think, "Okay, I'm gonna drive over to the lot that's closest to Barnes & Noble, park there while I run in to buy it, and come right back out." I drive over to said parking lot...and it's pay to park. I really don't want to have to pay to run in there for like 2 minutes, so I turn around. There's a Hilton hotel right across the street. Cool, I can park there, it's close enough. Drive over there. See a bunch of signs all in my face about "Private parking for Hilton guests only" and "Violators will be towed." Knowing my luck, I'd get caught, so I turn around again and end up in the exact same parking garage I'd originally been in, with my tiny little Civic squished up in between two giant-ass Escalades. By this point, I really don't care, so I get out of the car and sprint across the entire shopping center to B&N.

Thankfully, Creepy Guy was gone, so I grabbed it and ran over to stand in line. And of course there were like 20 people in front of me and only one cashier. I stand there for a few minutes, waiting...waaaaaiiiiting...thinking "I'm only buying one damn magazine, let's goooo" when about 5 minutes later I decide to get out of line and head to the front of the store to see if the register there is any better. It's not. In fact, there's no cashiers at all AKA I just got out of line for no reason. I head back over there and realize that about another 25 people have gotten in line since I left, and I was about to just put the magazine down and leave when the cashier in the music department, which I'd been walking in front of, calls out to me all, "I can get you checked out over here if you're ready." I could have kissed the guy. I was so happy. That was way too much work just to buy a freakin' magazine. I bought it and ran happily back to my car and didn't even care when I got lost in the parking garage and somehow ended up on the roof level. All I cared about was that I finally had that damn magazine with my lovely boys on it.

There's my pathetic desperate fangirl story lol. Just had to share that. I'll let you read this now. 

Chapter 18

Blaine and I tried to ignore the fact that every single guy at our table was leering (for lack of a better word) at us as we sat down to breakfast that morning. None of them were talking; they were looking at us as if they expected us to spill all the dirty details of the previous evening. We played stupid.

"Good morning," Blaine said nonchalantly with a polite smile as he reached for the syrup and drizzled it over top of his stack of waffles.

"So how was last night?" James tried to ask with the same casual nonchalance, although it wasn't hard to tell he was biting back a teasing smile.

I had to cover my mouth in order to stop myself from spitting out the mouthful of water I'd just choked on. Blaine, who was poise in human form, rubbed my back comfortingly and retained his politeness. "Last night was wonderful, thank you for asking."

"Was it as good as you said it would be?" the ever-tactless Wes chimed in.

Blaine looked confused. "I never...,"

"Blaine talks in his sleep. He's been fantasizing about Kurt every night since we came back from break," Wes announced loudly for the benefit of the entire table.

I immediately glanced over at Blaine, whose face was a deeper red than I'd ever seen it before as he mumbled, "Oh sweet Jesus," under his breath.

I squeezed his hand under the table. "I vote we change the subject."

"Yes." David stood up and cleared his throat dramatically. "I have an important announcement."

Everyone stared at him expectantly.

David stared back at everyone for a second before smiling excitedly. "Don't forget about the Super Bowl party tonight in the senior commons!" I rolled my eyes - David had been planning this party for weeks. Of course we wouldn't forget about it. "There's gonna be lots of food, and they're bringing in a 55-inch plasma with surround sound..."

As soon as he threw this last little tidbit of information out there, the guys broke into an eruption of chatter about the game. Having no idea how to differentiate between the Packers and the Steelers other than the fact that Pittsburgh's team colors were slightly less appalling together than Green Bay's, I turned to Blaine with a wry smile instead of attempting to contribute to the scattered conversation.

"You going?"

Blaine's face broke into a huge smile. "Heck yeah! David threw a party like this for last year's Super Bowl, too...it was pretty legit. I promise you'll have fun even if you don't like football."

I rolled my eyes and made a face. "You mean I _have_ to come?" I asked with mock sarcasm, even though I'd been planning on going with him anyway. I didn't mind watching football - it wasn't something I would do by choice, but I could tolerate it...plus, I'd get to spend time with Blaine and that was always a given.

"It would mean a lot to me if you did...," Blaine pouted and his eyes widened to the point that they would reduce a baby Basset hound to tears of shame. "You're my good luck charm. I need you there so my Packers win."

"_Your_ Packers? Since when are you such a huge fan?" Blaine was a die-hard fan of every pathetic sports team in Cleveland: the Indians, ridden with minor leaguers; the LeBron-less Cavaliers; and in this case, the embarrassing Browns. I'd never heard him express any kind of favorable opinion about any other team.

Blaine laughed. "Kurt, I'll root for any team as long as they beat those damn Steelers. So will you come?"

He made that ridiculously adorable pouty face again, as if he weren't already irresistible.

I leaned in and kissed his still-pouting bottom lip, smiling as I broke away. "What makes you think I could say no to that face?"

…

I couldn't help noticing that Blaine seemed distraught as we were making our way back from the dining hall after breakfast. He was staring off into space as we walked, and his hand was threaded limply through mine, his fingers just hanging there instead of folding over onto my hand. I racked my brain, trying to think of something I had done during the course of breakfast that might have made him seem upset, and came up empty. I didn't _think_ I'd done anything, anyway...

I squeezed his hand and looked at him with concern. "Everything alright?"

He paused in his tracks, considering this for a moment before he shook his head. "No. I just...I was thinking about last night, and..."

"Oh, god." I cut him off and pulled him off the path around the side of a nearby dorm building so that nobody passing by would overhear. I got the unmistakable feeling of dread piling up inside me. "D-did I do something wrong?"

"Kurt, it's-"

"Because if I did anything wrong you can just tell me and I'll-"

"No really, Kurt, I-"

"I'm so, so, sorry, Blaine. Please don't be mad at-"

"You really didn't-"

"It's just that it was only my first time and I-"

"Kurt!" Blaine finally succeeded in interrupting me once and for all when he raised his voice a few decibels to say my name. He reached out and placed his hands on my forearms, rubbing them up and down reassuringly. "You were _wonderful_. You did nothing wrong. It was me."

I squinted in confusion as he kissed my forehead. "I...didn't think...you did anything...wrong."

"Yes, I did." He sighed. "It seemed wrong to me, anyway, considering it was our first time. Maybe you liked it. I don't know."

"I liked everything you did last night."

"_I_ didn't." He looked up at me through his dark eyelashes, and if the situation hadn't been so serious, I would have begged him to take me right then and there. "I was trying way too hard to impress you last night, Kurt. Y'know, all the smooth talking. 'Relax, baby,' and all that. Pretty much me trying to be a stud."

I smiled and kissed his cheek. "I don't know why you're so upset about that. I thought it was hot."

He shook his head. "No. Kurt, I had no right to do that to you. It was _my_ first time, too. I had no idea what the hell I was doing, and I pretended like I did. I don't know. I guess I feel like I took advantage of you or something."

"Blaine." I reached up with both hands and clamped them around his face so he was looking at me straight-on. "Last night was _flawless_. I don't want you to beat yourself up because _you_ think you did something to make it anything but. Besides...," I inched my face closer to his, letting my lips brush against his as I continued in a whisper. "I kind of like it when you tell me what to do."

Blaine's lips curled into a smile against mine. "Is that right?"

I sucked playfully on his lower lip for a second before I responded. "Yup."

"Y'know, I always pegged you for the totally-innocent type. Not really much on the kinky side," he admitted as he kissed me, continuing in a breathless murmur as he pushed me up against the side of the building. "But I'm not gonna lie, your cuteness just makes the fact that you like kinky shit _so much hotter_."

"I meant it _sounds_ incredibly appealing to me. I can't speak from experience," I confessed.

"Oh, we're gonna change that. You'll _get_ experience, don't you worry." Blaine couldn't speak any more after finishing this sentence due to the fact that his tongue was suddenly very busy getting reacquainted with mine.

I reached out and placed both hands on his waist, yanking him forward, pulling his hips flush against mine. What can I say...I quite enjoyed being sandwiched between Blaine and a wall. And I could feel his ever-growing hard on pressed right up against my own through our uniform slacks, which was a considerably pleasant feeling as well. Since he was already hard, I took the liberty of grinding against him and in turn feeling him shiver even closer to me.

I couldn't restrain myself from smiling right up against his mouth as we made out up against the side of the building. He was falling apart right in front of my eyes, all because of _me_. I never thought I'd enjoy the sound of my own name quite so much, but due to the fact that Blaine was uttering long, drawn-out moans of "Kuuuuuuurt," into my mouth, I savored it graciously.

Blaine was smiling as well as we finally pulled apart, leaning our foreheads together as we gasped for air.

"You're dirty," he declared in a seductive murmur, looking straight into my eyes. "You are a dirty, dirty boy, Kurt Hummel. You are _naughty_."

I fluttered my eyelashes innocently. "Do you like it?"

"My god, _yes_. It's fucking hot," he gasped as he pulled me into another heated kiss.

I smiled again as I kissed him back. Being dirty was fun.


	19. Chapter 19

**Let me just throw this out there: I do not give a flying fuck about football. At all. The only reason I plan on watching the Super Bowl is, well...you should probably be able to figure that out. Although I'm more excited for the VDay episode 2 days later asdl;rjfal;sdjga;oghjafljd;lgjaf. I need canon!Klaine in my life. This whole rest-of-January-and-first-week-of-February thing...not cool. Gah. Which is why writing stuff like this kind of helps me get through this sad, Glee-less period of time. :D**

And I do feel pretty epic that I picked the Super Bowl teams right in the last chapter (which I wrote...I don't remember when, it was definetly before Sunday). I was just like "Oh, Steelers & Packers, I guess" and they ended up making it to the Super Bowl anyway so I'm pretty much sweet at life. Actually, it was probably just a lucky guess, but whatever.

I obviously don't know who wins the Super Bowl yet. And when I _do_ find out, I'll probably forget pretty quickly (unless the Steelers win, in which case my younger brother will be rubbing it in everybody's faces for weeks). So I just made that part up too.

Chapter 19

Thanks to my brief stint as McKinley's only decent kicker, I vaguely understood what was happening on the field. Pittsburgh, up six to nothing thanks to a touchdown and a failed field goal, had the ball on the 30-yard line, first and ten. The snap, then a pass that sailed towards a reciever who stood waiting patiently beneath it...

And then the receiver being blown out of the way by some Packer, who caught the ball and proceeded to blaze down the field towards the opposite end zone.

The entire Packers side of the room, including but not limited to Blaine, David, Luke, Nick and myself erupted into cheers at the exact moment the interception occurred. Well, cheers and trash talk directed at the Steelers fans, sitting on the other side of the senior commons, separated from us by an invisible line of allegiance. A shout of white noise - cheers from our side, curses from theirs - filled the room as the Packers guy rushed into the end zone for a touchdown.

"Oh, yeah!" David shouted excitedly, smirking at Wes on the opposite side of the room. "Pittsburgh can suck on _that_." The two of them - die-hard fans of their respective teams - had been sneaking jeers at each other ever since it was determined that these two teams would play each other in the Super Bowl.

Wes rolled his eyes as he reached for a chip from the bowl on the table in front of him. "Whatever," he mumbled with his mouth full as the Packers succeeded in kicking the extra point.

I felt Blaine's arms squeeze me tighter and I turned my head to smile at him. His face was just inches away from mine. We were sitting on the floor - Blaine with his back against the base of one of the sofas, with his legs spread flat on the floor. I sat between his legs with his arms encircled around me, leaning back against him.

"See?" he whispered, too quiet for any of the rest of the guys to hear, especially over the amount of noise they were making. "I told you, you're my good luck charm."

I giggled and felt my face growing warm with a blush as he kissed my nose. "You know I only came to this thing because of you," I murmured deliriously as I snuggled back against him. My head fell back onto his shoulder against the side of his neck; I closed my eyes and smiled to myself.

I felt Blaine shake his head. "No, it's because David would have dragged you out of your room kicking and screaming if you hadn't come. He's been planning this for weeks...he wasn't going to let anybody miss out."

I pursed my lips as I considered this. "That's true," I said, and yawned involuntarily. I hadn't noticed how _tired_ I was, and it wasn't even halftime yet.

"You're tired," Blaine observed.

"No, I'm...," another yawn, "not," I finished as defensively as I could.

Blaine narrowed his eyes and stared at me knowingly.

"I'm staying here for the whole game," I insisted, scooting back closer to him in an attempt to prove my point.

"Whatever you say...," Blaine sighed, but pulled me closer all the same. "Want anything to drink, any pop? If you're gonna stay, you might as well have some caffeine."

I shook my head. "I'm fine."

"At least eat something." Blaine gestured to all the bowls of chips and popcorn and various other forms of saturated fat that had been placed strategically around the room. "David bought way too much food again, at least help us get rid of some of it."

He reached up into the nearest bowl on top of the coffee table next to us and produced a handful of nachos. I decided not to protest and opened my mouth when he held one chip against my lips. I chewed slowly, swallowed, and let him repeat the process until he'd fed me all the nachos he'd grabbed and his hand was empty.

"Happy?" I mumbled, slumping back against him again. I had no idea why, I was just so _tired_...maybe it was because I'd slept in later than usual today, but that had been a result of the beautiful experience I'd had last night. As amazing as it had been, I had to admit I'd been pretty worn out all day because of it.

_Last night_. I sighed. I still couldn't believe it had happened. I vaguely heard Blaine say something in response to me, but I couldn't focus on what the words were because my eyelids were growing heavy and he was so comfortable and warm, I could feel his body heat through our clothes...and now he was starting to stroke my hair and whisper something to me, and I was still thinking about last night and I was about to have some very sweet dreams...

…

"Kurt?"

I opened my eyes wearily as Blaine woke me up with a gentle kiss pressed to my neck. It took me a few seconds to figure out where I was...I blinked a few times and glanced around the room. We were still in the senior commons, and I was still sitting between his legs and leaning back against him, but we were the only two people in the room. The TV was off and there was an atrocious amount of crumbs on the floor...speaking of food, all the bowls were still out on the tables. It was almost as if the rest of the guys had just been here and disappeared right before I'd woken up.

"What time is it?" I asked, my voice thick with sleep. Somehow, it felt like I'd been out a whole night.

"It's one in the morning," Blaine whispered quietly. "You fell asleep right before halftime."

"Oh." I frowned. "Why didn't you wake me up when the game ended?"

Blaine laughed and smoothed my hair. "I thought about it, but you just looked so sweet and adorable...I couldn't bring myself to wake you up just yet."

"Thanks, I guess," I murmured, feeling my eyes fall shut again. "Did the Packers win?"

"They did." My eyes were closed, but I could hear the smile in Blaine's voice. "You _are_ my good luck charm, Kurt. There's no doubt in my mind about that now."

"Glad I could be of service," I mumbled sleepily. Suddenly I felt myself being lifted and turned around slightly in Blaine's arms. Reluctantly, I half-opened one eye to see what he was doing and let my head fall against his chest when I realized he was standing, carrying me draped over his arms.

"Just go back to sleep," he whispered as I felt him starting to walk. "I'll carry you to your room."

"Okay," I agreed weakly, too exhausted to even bother trying to stay awake anymore.

I was almost asleep by the time we reached the elevator, and if the ancient machine hadn't loudly made its obnoxious _ding_, I would have been out by the time we got up to our floor. There was nothing but the sound of silence and Blaine's footsteps on the tile floor as he walked through the hallways with me cradled against his chest. If I strained my ears, I could hear the murmur of voiced behind closed doors. Most of the guys, I figured, were too worked up from the game to sleep. I was just the opposite.

"Do you have your key?" Blaine asked as he came to a stop. I figured he must have been standing outside my door.

"It's unlocked," I murmured drowsily. Forgetting to lock my door had become a nasty habit of mine since coming to Dalton. I didn't think I'd ever get used to locking my bedroom door - I'd had very little occasion to do so back at home.

We entered the dark silence of my room. I felt myself being lowered as Blaine gently set me down on my bed and pulled the covers up around me. The bed settled under his weight as he perched on the edge of the mattress.

"Good night, baby boy," he whispered as he kissed my forehead, the tip of my nose, and finally my lips with the gentlest caress of his own. "I love you so much."

"Night, Blaine," I said quietly as I felt him stand up from the bed. "Love you too."

He silently made his way towards the door. Behind my closed eyelids, I sensed the warm rectangle of light from the hallway turning to dark blackness as Blaine quietly closed the door behind him and left.

But now that he was gone, I couldn't sleep. My eyes drifted wide open and I stared into the flat blackness of the room around me. My mind wandered through a field of different thoughts for a few moments before I reached an epiphany. There was a very good reason why I wouldn't be able to sleep as well as I had last night, or even as well as I had while sitting on the floor in the senior commons.

My eyes remained open for a long time. I pulled the covers up around me, engulfing myself into a cocoon, trying to imagine that I was in his arms.


	20. Chapter 20

**I wanted to make this longer, but I'm sick and I didn't feel like writing much because all I felt like doing tonight was sitting on the couch in my Snuggie watching Modern Family and drinking Thai coconut tea. And I did so, for a little while. But I also made myself write this, because I wanted to write something that was actually fun as opposed to the five-page paper I've been working on for AP History about the decline of freedom of speech during World War I. I think we can all agree that Klaine fluffiness is better than boring school crap. This was supposed to be a lot longer...I wanted to put the actual dance in here too, but that part is going to be long enough so I decided just to give it its own chapter (chapter 21). Plus I have a headache and I can't breathe and I sound like a man when I talk (gotta love cold & flu season) so sleeping seems preferable to writing ATM. I'm gonna crash as soon as I'm done typing this intro thingy.**

Oh, and I forgot to put this in the last intro...it seems like a lot of you like dirty!Kurt. Just thought I'd throw it out there that he may be making a cameo appearance in one of these chapters coming up...I have some plans for him ;) And smutty!Klaine is really, really, ridiculously fun to write. I had more fun writing Shopping & Sexcapades than I ever have writing any other oneshot (or two-shot, I guess). So there will definetly be some smut up in heeeuh.

Unfortunately, my name is not Ryan Murphy AKA Glee is not mine. 

Chapter 20

The following Saturday I was alone in my room wearing nothing but a silk bathrobe, trying to pick out the _perfect_ outfit for the Valentine's Ball that night, when Blaine called me.

I pulled my vibrating phone out of the robe pocket and glanced at the screen, confused. I was right down the hall, what could he...

"Hi, Blaine?" I tried not to sound too confused I pressed the phone to my ear.

"Hey, uh, Kurt? I have the most stereotypically gay thing in the world to ask you."

I raised an eyebrow. "All right."

"I have _no _idea how to do my hair. I thought about straightening it and I actually went out and bought a straightener the other day, but I'm kind of having second thoughts and I considered just letting it go naturally curly but I just spent like twenty bucks on this straightener that I will probably never use again, and I feel like I should at least get one good use out of it and can you _please_ help me because I don't know what to-"

"Blaine," I interrupted. "Take a deep breath..."

I heard him do so through the phone.

"Now relax. It's going to be fine. You know I'd still think you're hot even if you were bald."

I could practically see him squinting in confusion. "So I should shave my head? Wait, that's not a bad idea, then I won't have to worry about what to do with my hair..."

I sighed. "Please don't shave your head. I like your hair. I was just trying to make a point." I tried to speak as calmly as I could, given that I was already stressing _myself_ out too much over what I should wear. I took a moment to picture Blaine with straightened hair, maybe with a little gel in there to slick it up, and liked what I mentally saw.

"Just straighten it like you originally wanted to. It'll look sexy."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Now go do your hair, I need to get dressed."

I realized this had definitely not been the right thing to say when Blaine asked, "You're naked?" with a slight hopeful edge to his voice.

"No, Blaine. I'm not naked. I'm just not...go straighten your hair," I finished exasperatedly.

"Fine," he said, sounding embarrassed. "Thanks so much. I'll see you in a little bit."

I hung up the phone and turned back to the row of dress shirts hanging in my closet: organized first by color, then by texture and pattern (I had way too much time on my hands). I had barely been pulling things off the rack and holding them up to myself in the mirror for two minutes when my phone buzzed (again), courtesy of Blaine (again).

"Please don't tell me you burned yourself already," was my greeting.

"I didn't, I just don't...know...what to...just come here," he sighed.

I rolled my eyes. "Be right there," I said, then hung up as he was in the middle of uttering a syllable of response.

I strode out of my room and down the hallway, stopping outside Wes and Blaine's open door to peer into the room. The only person inside was Wes, lying on his bed reading a comic book, probably not planning to get ready until a half hour before the dance.

"Bathroom," Wes said in a bored tone without looking up from the pages.

"Thanks," I mumbled, turning back to the direction I'd came and making my way to the bathroom on our floor. I threw open the door and found a helpless-looking Blaine standing in front of the mirror over the sinks, clearly not knowing how to use a straightener.

"Yeah, um, I don't know what I'm doing," he admitted.

"Give me that." I reached for the straightener as I stepped towards him and as I lifted my arm to do so, the front of my robe fell open a little bit. I had the distinct pleasure of watching Blaine practically swallow his Adam's apple as he noticed.

I looked the straightener over for a little bit, trying to notice if something was wrong with it, then frowned when I realized what the problem was.

"Plugging it in helps," I said flatly as I stuck the plug into the wall outlet and immediately felt the straightener warming up in my hands.

"Oh." Blaine blushed profusely as I closed the straightener over a single curl and pulled it gently smooth. I held up the now-straight lock of hair on the top of his head so he could see it in the mirror. "Yeah, that definitely works a lot better than when I tried to do it and I didn't notice it wasn't plugged it."

He laughed awkwardly as I straightened another piece of his hair. Something definitely seemed off about him tonight...almost like he was nervous. That was strange. I could count on my thumbs the number of times I'd seen Blaine get legitimately nervous.

"You're nervous," I observed. I could read him like a book by this point in our relationship.

"I've been freaking out about this all day, Kurt, you have no idea," he confessed as I continued pulling the straightener through his hair. "Ask Wes. Poor guy sat there trying to read while I paced back and forth across our room for an hour. Finally he got annoyed and threw Kurtie Bear at me."

"Kurtie Bear?" I felt myself blushing involuntarily, having a pretty good idea what that was about.

"Yeah, I kind of named the bear you won me." It was Blaine's turn to blush.

"That is...," I felt my face soften into a smile when I thought of the right word. "adorable. Not gonna lie, Blaine. That's cute."

"Wes laughed at me for a solid five minutes when I accidentally told him the bear had a name," Blaine said with a tiny smile. "Then he told me I needed to get laid."

I smirked as I gently smoothed another curl straight. "We took care of that, all right." We'd made love one other time this past week after our first time on his birthday. It was just as amazing and magical as the first had been, and I realized that my heart had started pounding recklessly in my chest as I considered the fact that tonight was a special occasion. Maybe after the dance...

"Yes, we did, and now I have no excuse. I still sleep with Kurtie Bear on the nights when I'm not sleeping with you...," he cut himself off and frowned. "That...didn't sound right in that context, but you know what I mean."

"Wow, Blaine, I didn't see you as the type to become so sexually deprived that you'd turn to stuffed animals as a last resort," I teased lightly. "But seriously, baby, why are you so freaked out?"

He pressed his lips together into a wry smile. "I've never been to a dance before," he stated. "I tried asking a guy to Homecoming at my old school, freshman year. Kind of thought he might be gay. Turns out he's not. I got a black eye."

I winced. Blaine looked up at me in the mirror and noticed. " 's no big deal," he said with a shrug. "What if that guy _had_ ended up being gay, y'know? What if I'd gotten involved with him and stayed at my old school? I never would have come here. I never would have met you."

His hazel eyes stared up at me through our reflection, and in that moment I realized that I couldn't imagine my life without him.

"Your hair's done," I whispered, setting the straightener down on the sink.

Blaine tentatively reached up to smooth one hand over it. "I like it," he said with a genuine smile, turning around to give me a hug. "Thank you so much, Kurt."

"Not yet." I reluctantly slipped away from the hug. His hair looked amazing, I had to admit that much, but I wanted to stay true to the amazing mental image that had popped into my head while we were on the phone. I reached for a bottle of hair gel that sat on the counter and squirted a small glob into my palm, rubbed my hands together and finally smoothing it through his hair, arranging it into a careful disarray of sexy messiness.

I stepped back and admired my work, nodding in approval. "Very sexy."

Blaine smiled. "Can I please hug you now?"

I returned his smile and stepped into his waiting arms. "Yes."

…

An hour later, I was back in my room, alone again.

I stared at my reflection in the full-length mirror on the back of my closet door. The boy staring back at me was dressed in his best Armani suit with his hair coiffed to perfection. His cheeks were naturally flushed with anticipation, and his eyes - blue? turquoise? teal? I'd known this boy for almost seventeen years, and I still couldn't tell what color his eyes were - danced with an excited sparkle.

This was the boy Blaine loved more than anything in the world, and I couldn't lie to myself, he looked stunning. I only hoped Blaine would think the same.

I turned away from the boy in the mirror and shut my closet, right as a gentle knock came on my bedroom door.

"Kurt?" Blaine's muffled voice called. "Are you ready?"

I took a deep breath. Calm down, Kurt, I told myself. A gorgeous boy is here to pick you up for your very first dance. There's no need to be nervous. You've already had sex with him, and you're nervous about a _dance_?

I grabbed the bottle of cologne that Blaine had bought for me as a late Christmas present and spritzed myself a few times before sliding it back on top of the dresser. Then I took one more deep breath and quickly crossed the room, pulling open the door before I could think twice.

I wanted to cry when I looked at him. Blaine looked absolutely stunning in his suit, which from the looks of it, appeared to be D&G. His hair had stayed perfectly intact from when I'd finished fixing it earlier. The thumb and index finger of his right hand carefully held the stem of a single red rose, which he held out to me.

"For you," he said softly, and his voice sounded thick with tears of his own. "You look _so _beautiful, Kurt."

"Thank you," I whispered, taking the rose and smiling shyly at him. "Speak for yourself...I mean...wow," I said stupidly. "You're _gorgeous_."

"It's all thanks to you," he murmured as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer.

I leaned my forehead against his. "You still would have looked gorgeous even if I hadn't helped you with your hair," I said, smiling proudly. "But I gotta admit, I did a pretty damn good job."

"You," Blaine stated, kissing my lips lightly, "are adorable."

I giggled as he kissed me again and smiled beneath my lips. It was the kind of kiss that left me breathless, but I knew we had to pull away soon or we'd be late for the dance.

I reached back into my room and set the rose he'd given me on top of my dresser. "I'll get some water for it when we get back," I told him, turning back around and linking my arm through his. "Ready?"

"Are you kidding me?" Blaine's hazel eyes twinkled with anticipation as he spoke. "I have a hot boy on my arm and we're going to a dance together. I was born ready."


	21. Chapter 21

**This chapter is completely dripping with sappiness. I like the song, thought. :D Fuckin' Perfect, by Pink, for those of you who haven't heard it. I'm well aware of the fact that if this happened in real life, they would probably use an edited version of the song, but I just copy/pasted the original lyrics. Feel free to mentally edit them however you wish :D**

Also, for part of this chapter, I had to rewatch this video (link below, take out the spaces, although I'm sure you all have seen it). I only meant to watch it once. I ended up watching it about ten times. Enjoy.  
http: / b i t . l y / ctIssF

**Ummm and my laptop's about to die and it's 1:30 in the morning and I have to get up at 9, which is early for me, so I'll stop talking now.**

Chapter 21

My very first school dance was a lot more crowded than I'd been expecting. I never would have thought that this many people would be able to fit into the historic Great Hall at Dalton...but then again, the entire student body was here, along with their dates.

The fact that there were so many girls here also made it very...sexual. The majority of the guys at Dalton were straight, which meant they hadn't gotten any since winter break. I lost count of how many times I awkwardly bumped into a couple grinding or making out on the dance floor, but thankfully the guys Blaine and I hung out with weren't into that level of PDA.

"Oh my god, I heard about you guys on the news!" David's girlfriend, a petite brunette named Vivienne, gushed excitedly when David introduced her to Blaine and me. "That's _so_ sad about what happened, but I'm glad everything is starting to get better."

Her face rushed through multiple emotions as she spoke those few sentences - excitement, then brief sadness, then relief. One of her friends, a tall girl with exotic features whom Luke was apparently dating, rolled her eyes as Vivienne finished talking.

"Can you _be _more insensitive, Viv?" the other girl asked in a throaty voice that had the faint undertone of an accent I couldn't place. She smiled at Blaine and me. "I'm sorry about her. My name's Ana, by the way. I'm Luke's girlfriend, it's nice to meet you two."

"Kurt," I introduced myself, shaking her hand, and Blaine did the same. "Nice to meet you, too."

The rest of the guys in our group took turns introducing their dates to everyone. Wes was here with Vivienne's twin, Adrienne, a soft-spoken girl who couldn't be more unlike her outgoing sister. Nick's date was a girl named Renée with whom he's been good friends since kindergarten. James had invited someone named Lauren, who wasn't there at the moment James introduced her because she'd had some kind of "makeup emergency" as she described it and raced off to the ladies' room to fix herself up.

Right as James was explaining this, we all turned when we heard a high-pitched, nasally female voice call his name. "There she is now," he told us, turning around and fixing his gaze on a short, blonde girl who was attempting to push her way towards us through the crowd of gyrating bodies on the dance floor.

"Well, here she is," James said when Lauren finally reached us. He wrapped an arm around her waist as he went around the group and introduced her to everybody.

Lauren squinted at Blaine and me in confusion after James had introduced us. "Where are your guys' dates?" Her voice annoyed me. She sounded like a Barbie doll with a mosquito stuck up its nose.

I involuntarily shot her a semi-dirty look, but Blaine smiled as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in closer to him. Neither of us said anything.

"_Ohhh_," Lauren finally realized. "You guys are..._oh_."

"Aren't they _adorable_?" Vivienne chimed in.

"Can we _please _stop the overexaggerated gushing? I'm sure Kurt and Blaine just want to be treated like any other couple," Ana cut in. She glanced in our direction; both of us nodded before she smiled apologetically. "I am so sorry, on behalf of every female here. Girls are bitches. If I were a guy, I'd totally be gay too."

I was trying to think of some response to her strange but sincere apology, and Lauren and Vivienne glared at them with offended looks on their faces. Unfortunately, none of us got to respond, because at that moment, the DJ started playing a new song. A song that was extremely familiar to me. A song to which I'd danced in my basement and later taught said dance to the entire McKinley football team.

"Single Ladies!" Blaine shouted over the opening beat. I gritted my teeth, feeling slightly annoyed that Tina _had_ to post that video on YouTube, and Blaine _had_ to find it. Before I knew what was going on, I felt myself being pushed into a wide circle of space that had been cleared in the center of the room. It didn't look like I had much of a choice, so I sighed to myself and began busting out those moves as only Kurt Hummel could.

I couldn't believe I still remembered the whole dance. At first it was nervewracking, but as the chorus came around, I found myself getting more and more comfortable with it. I didn't even realize I'd been staring at Blaine the entire time until I slapped my butt on the "Don't be mad once you see that he want it," part and the guys in our group immediately started attempting to shove him out into the center of the floor with me. He managed to hold his ground and stay put, which was fine with me. As much as I loved Blaine, it was nice having the spotlight on _me_ for what felt like the first time in forever...as conceited as that may sound.

The song ended and faded into Paramore's "Hallelujah," as the room burst into applause and catcalls before the couples started pairing up to slow dance. As I made my way back over towards Blaine, I was all of a sudden stopped in my tracks when someone who was definitely _not_ Blaine grabbed my wrist and pulled me to a stop.

I turned to see who the culprit was and found myself looking at a chubby girl who had somehow managed to stuff herself into a dress that was so tight it looked like it had practically been tattooed onto her skin. "I just wanted to let you know," she said in a whisper that was probably supposed to sound seductive, "I'd totally tap that."

"He's already spoken for," Blaine's voice said, and I turned around to face him right as his arms were reaching out to embrace me. He smiled idly at the girl. "I would apologize, but I'm not sorry that he's mine."

"Y-_yours_...," the girl stammered, and I could almost hear her eyes getting wide as Blaine kissed me deeply while she watched. "I knew it was too good to be true!" she cried, and I smiled against Blaine's lips as I heard the retreating sound of her high heels clicking on the floor.

"She was right, though," Blaine continued as he broke the kiss and we continued dancing. "I'd tap that, too. Actually, I _do_ get to tap that." Suddenly I felt his hand giving my ass a gentle squeeze and yelped quietly.

"Couldn't help myself." Blaine smiled as if he was more proud of himself than he'd ever been.

"And you say _I'm_ dirty," I murmured, leaning my head against his shoulder as we continued making a tiny box on the floor with our feet. "I'm not the one turning a completely romantic moment into a sexual encounter."

"Technically, it's not my fault. She started it," Blaine countered. His tone changed into something like curiosity as he continued. "By the way, do you still have that sparkly black thing you wore in the video you put on YouTube?"

I sighed. "The unitard? Yes, I still have it. It's at my house. And I didn't post that. Remind me never to forgive Tina."

"Remind _me_ to thank her generously." I could hear the smirk in Blaine's voice turning into more curiosity. "What about the football uniform? I also found something she posted of the whole football team doing that dance on the field during a game, then you came out to kick a field goal."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I still have that, too."

Blaine's eyes were twinkling with mischief as he pulled back to look at me. "You think I'll ever be able to see you in them?"

I chewed on this for a second. "Tell you what. You be a good boy until spring break, and I'll let you sleep over at my house the night before we leave for New York. If you're a _really_ good boy, I'll do a fashion show for you and model anything you want me to."

"Sleepover?" Blaine smiled with beautiful innocence as he looked up at me through his eyelashes.

I kissed his forehead. "Yes, sleepover." It was obvious that he knew a sleepover between the two of us would not constitute of much sleeping. It would probably be similar to the sleepovers we already had had in my room twice this week.

"I'll be good," Blaine promised firmly.

I smiled at him but didn't get a chance to respond, because suddenly the room was filled with the sound of someone tapping on a microphone and feedback echoing through the room. I hadn't realized until that moment that Hallelujah had ended.

"Excuse me?" Wes's voice asked as everyone covered their ears. My gaze shot towards the small stage that had been set up at the front of the room, and sure enough, Wes was standing there, holding a microphone, surrounded by the rest of the Warblers.

"What's going on?" Blaine asked, obviously confused.

I squinted at the stage, perplexed. "That's exactly what I was about to ask."

"Hey, everybody," Wes said once the room had gotten reasonably quiet. "I'm Wes Patterson, for those of you who don't know me, and behind me are the Dalton Academy Warblers. We have something we'd like to say, but first, I'd like to invite some special friends of ours up here to the stage. Please welcome the glee club from McKinley High School in Lima...New Directions!"

At first I wasn't sure if I'd heard him right. But sure enough, all my old friends from McKinley, who must have been standing right in front of the stage, were making their way up the stairs to join the Warblers onstage.

"What the...why are they...I don't understand," I muttered to myself, staring at the two groups onstage. Wes was greeting Rachel with a hug and saying something that I couldn't hear before handing her the microphone.

"Hello!" Rachel said in a perky voice. "In case you don't know who I am, I'm Rachel Berry, team captain of New Directions. A lot of you are probably wondering what we're doing here, especially Kurt. You're probably more confused than anybody."

Somehow her eyes landed on me where I was standing right in the middle of the crowd. She smiled and I waved shyly back.

"But we're here today because, as Wes said, we all have something very important we need to say." She gestured around herself to the collective group of New Directions and Warblers. "So can I have Kurt and Blaine come up and join us onstage, please?"

Blaine smiled and laced his fingers through mine as everyone cheered for us. "I would love to know what's going on," I murmured under my breath so only he could hear as he pulled me through the crowd.

He shrugged. "I wish I could answer that. At least we're about to find out."

We climbed the steps on the side of the stage and walked out to join the group already gathered there. Rachel motioned for us to come to the front at center stage, where she was standing, so Blaine shrugged and led me to where she'd indicated.

"Blaine, I don't know you that well, but I'm so glad Kurt found you," she said into the microphone. "I've been getting to know him better this past year, and I've come to find out that he's one of the most genuinely talented and sweetest people I've ever known. He deserves someone who's going to love him and treat him right, and it's so comforting to see that he's found that person in you."

Blaine squeezed my hand and smiled at her as she continued. "You love him so much. I can just tell from the way you look at him." As if to prove her point, Blaine let his gaze move softly to me and held eye contact for a second.

"And I know you guys have been through some pretty rough times since winter break, and you're still trying to recover," Rachel continued as she turned to acknowledge New Directions and the Warblers. "Which is why we decided to put a little something together for you two. It was a lot of hard work getting this done, since our schools are a little far away, but I hope it'll be worth it because this is something you guys really, really need to hear."

She placed the microphone back on the stand and said, "Enjoy," just quietly enough so that Blaine and I could hear as the Warblers quietly started to hum their pitches in the background. Rachel stepped closer to the microphone and began to sing the first verse a capella as Blaine and I moved to the edge of the stage and watched in awe.

_Made a wrong turn, once or twice  
_

_Dug my way out, blood and fire_

_Bad decisions, that's alright_

_Welcome to my silly life_

My jaw had dropped without my realizing it. Blaine pulled me into a close embrace as Finn took the mic to finish the first verse and the rest of New Directions and the Warblers began laying down a quiet, harmonized "oooh," beneath him.

_Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood_

_Miss 'No way, it's all good', it didn't slow me down_

_Mistaken, always second guessing, underestimated_

_Look, I'm still around_

Blaine's face was closer to my own than I realized. All of a sudden I felt his tears falling onto my cheeks as he smiled at me and gently led my arms up around his neck before placing his own around my waist. As New Directions sang the first chorus in unison over a backround rhythm beatboxed by the Warblers, Blaine and I began slow dancing.

_Pretty pretty please, don't you ever ever feel_

_Like you're less than fuckin' perfect_

_Pretty pretty please, if you ever ever feel like you're nothing_

_You're fuckin' perfect to me_

I heard Sam take over the mic to start the second verse as the Warblers continued their a capella beatbox rhythm in the background. I wanted to look over and watch them, but Blaine's hazel eyes, glistening with tears, were staring straight into my own like he'd been waiting his whole life for me. The beauty of this moment was almost too much...

_You're so mean when you talk_

_About yourself, you were wrong_

_Change the voices in your head_

_Make them like you instead_

New Directions began crescendoing into their harmonized "oooh"s as the Warblers continued beatboxing the rest of the second verse. When I heard Mercedes start to sing, I immediately looked over and smiled at her. Her face noticeably brightened as she finished the rest of the verse.

_So complicated, look happy, you'll make it  
_

_Filled with so much hatred, such a tired game_

_It's enough! I've done all I can think of_

_Chased out all my demons, let's see you do the same_

I returned all my attention to Blaine as they sang the second chorus exactly as they had sung the first, but with New Directions breaking off into four-part harmonies at some points instead of singing entirely in unison. Blaine sang along under his breath, looking into my eyes to let me know he meant every word.

_Pretty pretty please, don't you ever ever feel_

_Like you're less than fuckin' perfect_

_Pretty pretty please, if you ever ever feel like you're nothing_

_You're fuckin' perfect to me_

I would have been surprised if anyone _but_ Artie had done the hip-hop bridge. Still, I couldn't help but smile as my wheelchair-bound friend busted out that rap better than any other white kid I knew...hell, better than most _black_ kids I knew. New Directions faded out, but the Warblers kept beatboxing behind Artie like nobody's business.

_The whole world's scared so I swallow the fear_

_The only thing I should be drinking is an ice cold beer_

_So cool in line, and we try try try, but we try too hard and it's a waste of my time_

_Done looking for the critics, cause they're everywhere_

_They don't like my jeans, they don't get my hair_

_Exchange ourselves, and we do it all the time  
_

_Why do we do that? Why do I do that?_

_Why do I do that?_

Artie took the mic with him when he went to rejoin the rest of the group and handed it off to Mercedes, who beautifully took the short descant before the final chorus.

_Yeah! ...Oh, pretty, pretty please..._

Blaine pulled me closer to him and brought his face impossibly close to mine as the group launched into the final and most powerful chorus.

_Pretty pretty please, don't you ever ever feel_

_Like you're less than fuckin' perfect_

_Pretty pretty please, if you ever ever feel like you're nothing_

_You're fuckin' perfect to me_

More powerful a capella harmonies continued in the background as Mercedes, still holding the mic, kept doing her thing.

_You're perfect, you're perfect_...

She lowered the microphone to her side and all harmonies and beatboxing stopped so that the entirety of both groups could sing the final lines in unison.

_Pretty pretty please, if you ever ever feel like you're nothing_

_You're fuckin' perfect to me_.

The room burst into applause as the song ended and Blaine stood on his tiptoes so he could kiss my lips sweetly for a second before we broke apart, smiling at each other for a short moment and then dispersing to give hugs and thanks to our friends onstage. It was nice to see my friends from McKinley again...it felt like it had been a lifetime. In the crazy rush of the moment, I tried to have as much of a conversation as I could with each of them. While Quinn was in the middle of telling me about her latest Slushie disaster, suddenly she was interrupted by the sound of Blaine's voice over the microphone which he must have gotten from Mercedes.

"Hey, guys. Um, I just feel like I need to say something after that...Kurt, will you join me up here?"

Blaine was standing at the front of the stage, where we'd been with Rachel before the song. I gave Quinn a quick hug before making my way through the throng and stepping up beside my boyfriend.

"First of all, I just wanted to thank you all. Seriously, that was an _amazing _performance, and it means so much to us. Thank you." He turned to speak to New Directions and the Warblers as he said this, all of whom smiled at him.

"And I also want to do something I've been wanting to do...pretty much since the moment I met this boy." Blaine smiled at me as he curled an arm around my waist to bring me closer to him. "I've always wanted to just stand in front of a crowd and declare my love for him without having to worry about being judged, and I feel like it's safe enough here that I can do that.

"I love Kurt Hummel. I love him with everything I have." I was already melting at his words, and it didn't help when he turned to look me in the eyes as he continued addressing the audience. "He is my world. He is my _hero_." Blaine's voice became choked with tears as he whispered the next part into the microphone. "I would die for him. I would step in front of him and take a bullet right through my heart if it meant he would be safe."

"Blaine...," I whispered, bringing one hand up to rest it over his heart.

As Blaine spoke, he placed his free hand over mine and kept our gaze locked. "And I swear to you I will never hurt you," he said, addressing me. "I love you so much, Kurt, with all my heart."

He pulled me into a kiss as the crowd _awww_ed and cheered. I was the one who reluctantly broke away as I felt tears of my own sliding out of my eyes. Blaine looked back at me with nothing but reverence and awe in his own eyes.

"Thank you," I whispered, both to him and to the rest of the group who had been with us onstage and were now gathered around us, squishing us into a group hug.

Blaine smiled and kissed me again. This whole school-dance thing had turned out way better than I'd expected.


	22. Chapter 22

**Okay. I'm just going to say that if explicit slash makes you uncomfortable, PLEASE stop reading this right now. This entire chapter is literally nothing but disgustingly smutty, graphic boy-on-boy sex that has absolutely no significance to the plot whatsoever...just smut for the sake of writing smut. If you don't want to read it, I won't be offended, and you won't miss anything vitally important to the plot. So I suggest that if you're not a fan of smut, you don't read _any_ further.**

With that being said, all you slash lovers...enjoy. Dirty!Kurt is here for your entertainment (Adam Lambert lyrics FTW). 

Chapter 22

That night, after the dance, I was back to square one - alone in my room, wearing nothing but a bathrobe, about to head down the hall to the bathroom to see Blaine. The difference this time, though, was that he didn't know I was coming. He was too busy taking a shower, all by himself, although that wouldn't last long.

I had to admit I was nervous, but that was only because I'd never made the first move so brazenly in a sexual situation such as this. But I couldn't help myself. There was an extremely sexy boy just down the hall from me, standing in a tiny, cramped shower stall as hot water cascaded all over his naked body. Excuse me for wanting to join him.

I must have walked down the hall to the bathroom, but I don't even remember doing that. All I know is that I somehow ended up standing in front of the only occupied shower stall with the curtain still drawn. I took a deep breath and slipped off my robe, set it on the bench behind me, and started a countdown in my head. _Trois, deux, un_...

Without thinking twice, I yanked the curtain aside and stayed where I was, enjoying the horrified look on Blaine's face as he turned around to see who had barged in on him. He exhaled in relief and his expression noticeably softened when he realized it was me.

"Kurt," he said softly, so I could barely hear him over the water that was streaming down over him. "How nice of you to stop by."

"I was just getting ready to take a shower, too," I said in the most seductive voice I could manage. "But you were already in here, so I figured I would just join you and save water. Do you have a problem with that?"

Blaine's eyes were impossibly wide and his lips had parted slightly as he stared at me without saying a word.

"_Do_ you?" I asked impatiently. I stepped into the stall with him and pulled the curtain shut behind me.

Blaine gave a sigh that sounded like surrender and pulled me into his arms under the spray of the shower, immediately smothering my lips with his. I arched against him, desperate to feel every inch of him on every inch of me, and before I knew it my tongue was gently slipping through his lips and stroking the roof of his mouth. He moaned into this kiss, little whimpers mixed with my names and "I want you"s...

"Fuck me," I whispered into his mouth.

Blaine moaned again, though I wasn't sure if it was in response to my words or the fact that my fingers had just so happened to brush against his hard cock with just the lightest caress.

"Right here. Right now," I continued with a growl into his ear. "I want to feel your fucking _huge_ cock pounding into me so hard I won't be able to walk tomorrow. I want you to _hurt_ me, Blaine. And I want you to touch me...I want your hands on my dick, getting me off better than I could ever do myself. I want to come into your hand and I want you to smear it all over my body, and if some of it manages to stay instead of just washing right off with the water, I want you to lick it up. I want you to fuck me, Blaine, like nobody has ever fucked anyone else before."

I pulled back so I could look into his eyes, very much enjoying the fact that his pupils had dilated to the point that they almost overtook the hazel irises. "Do you understand me?" I said in the same low voice I'd been using.

Blaine's face slowly softened into a beautifully mischievous smirk. "I like it when you say dirty things to me," he whispered. "How can I even _try_ to resist that?"

"Then don't resist," I insisted breathlessly.

He smiled as he turned me around so my back was to him and pushed me gently up against the shower wall. I couldn't restrain the quiet whimper that fell from my lips as one of his hands slid down between my cheeks and one finger circled my hole before slipping inside. He added another finger, then another, preparing me lovingly just as he always did, but I knew that what I was about to get would be anything but gentle.

Blaine pulled his fingers out of me and placed one hand on either side of my waist, pulling my hips back closer to him, and I trembled when I felt the head of his cock very slowly slipping inside me.

"Please...," I whispered.

"Please what? I want to hear you beg some more."

"Please fuck me," I confirmed in a breathless murmur. "_Please_, Blaine, I want you...I _need_ you all the way inside me..."

Blaine bit down hard on my neck to create a hickey that I immediately knew wouldn't go away for days. "All you had to do was ask."

His hands pulled my hips back with one abrupt flourish and he was all the way inside me. In and out, in and out a few times, before he moved both hands forward and wrapped them around my cock, which was completely hard and probably leaking, though it was hard to tell through the stream of shower water pouring down around us. I screamed, immediately thankful there wasn't anybody else in the bathroom, and even if there _had_ been, the noises we were making probably would have scared them away.

"So hot, Kurt," Blaine gasped in between thrusts. "So fucking _tight_."

"More," I begged, and he obediently thrust into me harder. "You feel so good inside me..."

By now my ass was screaming in pain from all the force he was fucking me with, but I barely noticed because of the sheer overload of pleasure that drowned it out. His talented hands were still working my cock, and it was a miracle I hadn't come yet...but I knew I'd be reaching that point soon enough. His thumb slid over my slit and I instinctively screamed his name in response.

"I like it when you say my name," Blaine said in a dark whisper.

"_Blaine_," I mewled. "Fuck me harder, Blaine, _harder_..."

He did as I had asked and generously began pounding into me harder than ever before. His hands tightened around my cock and he spoke through gritted teeth: "I'm about to come, Kurt. I'm going to come right in your hot, tight ass."

"Do it," I insisted. "I want to feel you filling me up as much as possible...oh, fuck..._Blaine_..."

I had never enjoyed the sound of my own name more than in that moment, when Blaine screamed it as he released inside me. I could feel his cock growing softer, but he never pulled out. He panted as he came down off his high and continued stroking my cock, which is why I, too, came into his hand just seconds after he finished, screaming his name as he had screamed mine.

Blaine pulled out and guided me over to an area of the stall that wasn't directly underneath the spray so he could finish up what I'd begged for before we started. He spread my come all over my chest, making sure he got every last bit off his hands, and smiled beautifully before leaning down and licking it right back up. I stumbled back a few inches and fell against the wall, tilting my head back as my eyes fell closed and I whispered his name.

He stood up straight once every drop of come was gone and looked right into my eyes as he turned the water off.

"Kurt," he said in a voice thick with seriousness. "Remind me to take showers with you more often."


	23. Chapter 23

**I probably could have written a lot more over the past two days considering we haven't had school...there's a sheet of ice two inches thick covering all the roads and therefore turning them into death traps. I've been stuck inside my house for two days. I'm so bored it's not even funny, I'm actually glad we have school tomorrow...but it's a 2 hour delay so I do love the fact that I get to sleep in. Like I said, I didn't write much during my days off, but I managed to type this up this afternoon. Slightly angsty, very dramalicious. We need to come down off that sex high that we all got in the last chapter.**

**Oh, and if any of y'all have a DeviantArt, I just made one :D Same username as on here. I'm in the (slow) process of uploading a couple oneshots there. WhatsernameLambert(dot)DeviantArt(dot)com, if you're interested. :)**

**PS: DARREN'S BIRTHDAY'S THIS SATURDAY YAAAAAY. Just throwing that out there. Did any of you guys get a chance to catch him on Ellen this afternoon? Talk about adorable. I love him even more after that interview. Someone just needs to give him the award for Coolest Straight Guy Ever...hearing him talking about playing a gay character was awesome. I LOVE how open minded he is about it. And I'll stop gushing now before I go into full-out fangirl mode.**

Chapter 23

"Blaine! Kurt!" David immediately began approaching us the second we walked into Dalton's choir room for Warblers rehearsal that afternoon. "Finally. I thought you'd never get here. I have an amazing idea for you guys."

I raised one eyebrow and glanced at Blaine, who shrugged. "Shoot."

"Okay, so we really need to buckle down and start getting ready for Regionals, which is the week after spring break." I nodded as David spoke, trying to stay calm even though I hadn't even thought about Regionals since...well...since before Christmas break.

"I know it's kind of a Warbler tradition for one of the seniors to sing the Regionals ballad as a solo, but I was just talking to the guys about doing it differently this year," David was saying once I snapped out of my freakout. "We were thinking maybe you two could sing it as a duet."

Me. Sing a duet with Blaine. In front of thousands of people. I wondered if it would be appropriate to mention that this would be an absolute dream come true.

"Sure!" Blaine seemed eager enough. "That is, if you want to do it," he added to me.

Suddenly my head was swimming through more conflicting emotions than I could name. "I-I don't know," I admitted. "I mean, I'd love to, but I'm only a junior. Are you sure all the seniors are okay with this?"

"Let's see. The only seniors we have this year are Wes, James, myself, and...well, Blaine. Wes, James and I are both cool with it," David explained. "We thought it would be really cool for you guys to get up there and sing together after everything you've been through."

I bit my lip. "That's really nice of you guys, David, but tradition is tradition." I glanced at Blaine. "If anything, I'd rather just have Blaine sing it by himself."

Blaine looked concerned for some reason. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Positive."

"Oh." His expression changed from being concerned to perplexed. "Just...let me know if you change your mind." He glanced up to wave a quick goodbye to David, who went off to join the rest of the basses while we took our seats among the rest of the tenors.

I shook my head as I opened my folder and began shuffling my sheet music around. "I don't think so. You're a senior, I'm not. You should sing it."

Blaine let out a deep sigh. "I know. It's just...it's always kind of been a dream of mine to sing with the boy I love in front of a whole bunch of people."

His hazel eyes were smoldering as he looked up at me through his eyelashes. I knew this look as Blaine's trademark irresistible stare. Whenever he looked at me like this, no matter how hard I tried, I could never quite manage to hold onto my willpower.

"Fine," I said, and that seemed to please him.

Suddenly the heavy wood-paneled double doors to the choir room burst open and everyone turned around to see Luke dashing in, breathing as if he'd just run a marathon.

"Kurt. Blaine," he gasped, pausing to catch his breath. "Where are they. I just ran all the way here from the main office building." Luke volunteered as an office helper in his free period before rehearsal.

Blaine raised his hand a little bit and waved. "We're right here, hi."

"Blaine, they need to see you in the office," Luke panted, and I was starting to worry that he might pass out. "Kurt, you go too. They said it wouldn't hurt to have you there...she wants to apologize to you, too."

"She?" Blaine mumbled, obviously confused - as was I. "Who's she?"

"Just...," Luke was starting to breathe at a normal rate as he practically collapsed from exhaustion into his seat in the back row of the bass section. "Go."

For some reason, my conscience told me to be nervous, so I wiped my sweaty palms on my uniform slacks as Blaine and I stood up and made our way out of the room. The loud murmur of excited voices followed us out; everyone else was obviously just as curious as we were as to what was going on.

"I like how he didn't tell us who 'she' is," Blaine muttered as we burst through the front doors of the music building and out into the cool afternoon air. It was late February, and today was the first day of the year so far that could be considered somewhat warm. "Now I'm nervous."

"Don't be nervous. Now you're making me nervous." I now saw why Luke had been so out of breath when he'd arrived. The main office was all the way on the other side of campus, and we were walking pretty quickly.

"Sorry 'bout that." Blaine reached over and grabbed my hand, bringing me closer to him as we walked. "I'm just...I don't know." He pulled us to an abrupt stop. "This is my life," he said as he gestured to the sprawling campus of Dalton around us. "This is more or less my home. Everything's seemed to be going so well lately, I can't even think of anything that could be a problem."

I gave him a reassuring kiss on the cheek. "I'm sure it's nothing," I said as I began walking again, dragging him with me.

"Then why would you have to come? The only thing I can think of is that this has something to do with those guys attacking us. I just don't know..."

I pulled him to another stop and planted a loving kiss on his other cheek. "Still nervous?"

"Yeah," Blaine said to the ground.

"Still nervous?" I murmured as I kissed his forehead.

"Yep."

Two more kisses, one on each eyelid. "Still?"

"Mmm-hm."

One soft kiss on the tip of his nose. "How about now?"

"Yeah, I am, actually."

This time, I didn't say anything before putting two fingers under his chin and gently tilting his face up to mine. I placed one more kiss softly on his mouth, letting my lips linger there for a second before I pulled away to look him in the eyes.

"Are you still nervous about what's going to happen when we get there?"

Blaine smiled softly as he took my hand again. "Not anymore."

I was a little intimidated once we entered the main office. This was one of the oldest buildings on campus, and something about it had this extremely overpowering feel that made anyone who entered feel inferior to its greatness. Or maybe it wasn't the building I was intimidated by. Maybe it was the fact that when we reached the Dean of Students' office after the secretary in the front lobby told us where to go, the first thing I saw in the room was a slightly familiar-looking woman sitting in one of the chairs that faced the Dean's desk.

I was still squinting at the woman - I could only see the profile of her face, and I knew she looked familiar, but for some reason I couldn't place her - when Blaine's hand resorted to a death grip on mine. His face was bone pale when I glanced over at him, and all of a sudden I knew who she was.

"Blaine," the dean said, standing up from behind his desk. "Your mother is here to see you."

I had never seen so much shock written on Blaine's face than in that moment. He opened his mouth to speak, and it sounded like he was about to utter the word "Mom," when he cut himself off and stayed silent for a few seconds.

"What are you doing here?" Blaine finally asked.

Lisa Anderson remained seated as the dean left the room, stepping out into the hall to give us some privacy.

"There are three things I wanted to tell you." Her voice sounded a lot different than the last time I'd heard her speak - when she was standing on my front porch, yelling at her son. This time, her voice sounded sad and broken. That wasn't the only thing different about her - she also appeared to have put on quite a bit of weight. "Things you need to know."

"O...kay," Blaine said awkwardly. It seemed like he was trying very hard to speak cordially and not completely snap.

"First of all," she began as we sat down in the other two chairs across from the dean's empty desk. She turned her head towards us as she spoke, but kept her body angled forward. "Your father and I are no longer together, Blaine."

I don't know why, but for some reason I didn't find this news very surprising. Blaine, however, did. "Did...you get...,"

"He ran off on me," Lisa clarified flatly. She wasn't even looking at us anymore; her head was facing forward. "About a month ago. I don't know where he is. I haven't heard from him."

Blaine and I were silent.

"Second thing," Lisa continued. "The reason he ran off on me...," she paused to take a deep breath, or maybe it was a sigh. "was because I had...I guess you could call it an epiphany."

She chuckled dryly as she turned to look at Blaine. He kept his face forward and refused to meet her eye contact. "After we came to see you at your...your boyfriend?" She seemed to be acknowledging me, so I nodded. "After we came to see you and you were at your boyfriend's house, I thought a lot about what you had said. About how God wouldn't have made you this way if He thought it was wrong. I told your father about that, Blaine, and I said I wanted to let you come home. Give you another chance."

Lisa stopped talking although I knew she was nowhere near finished. Her voice was completely soaked in the tears that were starting to slip down her face.

"And?" Blaine asked coldly.

Lisa shook her head. "He wouldn't have any of it." Another deep sigh. "We argued about it for months. He still thinks that what you are is wrong," she whispered, and her voice broke on the last word. "I was all set to run away. To leave him. But he beat me to it."

"So...," Blaine sounded like he was trying to make sense of all this. "You're saying you...like me now? Even though I'm gay?"

Lisa nodded. "Y-you're my son, Blaine, I love you and I feel absolutely terrible about what I said to you. And...and I know it may be hard for you to forgive me, and I understand that. But I really do mean it. I'm so sorry. And I'd like you to come back home with me...at least for your last few months before you go to college. You are going to college, right?"

Blaine didn't answer her. He still wasn't even looking at her. "What's the third thing?"

"The...," Lisa cut herself off from saying whatever she was about to say.

"I'm pregnant," she whispered after a moment.

This particular tidbit of information shocked me beyond the point of speaking. It seemed to have the opposite effect on Blaine. "You're what?" Blaine shouted.

"Six months pregnant," Lisa announced as she stood up. Once she was standing, it was incredibly easy to see why she'd appeared to have gained weight. "You're gonna be a big brother, finally."

"I...don't...understand...," Blaine stammered.

"Like I said, I'm six months along," Lisa explained. "All this happened before your father and I had our falling out. But...this little guy...or girl...," she rubbed her bulging stomach, "I chose not to have the doctors tell me what it is yet. But he - or she - isn't going to have a father."

I reached over and held Blaine's nearest hand in both of my own as he blinked back tears. "It's okay," I whispered.

"But he or she is going to have an amazing brother. I know that." Lisa sank down to her knees on the opposite side of Blaine's chair from me and took her son's other hand. "Blaine...I know this is a lot for you to take in. But I am so sorry. I love you so much, even if I haven't shown it, and I...I want my little boy back."

Still holding Blaine's hand, Lisa let her head fall against his knees and collapsed full-on into sobs. Suddenly I felt like I was intruding on a very private moment between mother and son. I gently let go of Blaine's other hand and stood up. "I shouldn't be here," I whispered.

Lisa immediately picked her head up to look at me. "No, you stay," she insisted. "I wanted to apologize to you, too...I'm sorry, I can't remember your name."

"Kurt," I told her, too stunned by all that had happened to feel any emotion at this point.

"Kurt," she repeated in a whisper. "I'm so sorry, Kurt. I had no right to come to your house and say what I said to you. I don't even know you. I just know that you obviously love Blaine a lot, and I want to thank you for that. You've never been afraid to show how much you love him...I just wish I could say the same."

I blinked a few times. "Thank you," I whispered, because it seemed like the right thing to say. "I...I do. I love him so much, I can't even tell you." Instinctively, I reached over for Blaine's hand again and laced my fingers through his.

"I'm so sorry. Both of you," Lisa said humbly. "Blaine, I really mean it when I say I want you to come home. What about over spring break?"

"Kurt and I are going to New York over spring break," Blaine explained flatly. "I have an audition for a full-ride scholarship at the Tisch School of Fine Arts at NYU. Kurt planned out an entire weekend for us while we're there...we're going to Opening Day at Yankee Stadium, couple Broadway shows."

"A full ride...," Lisa's voice came out as a stunned whisper before her head fell against Blaine's knees again. The tears that she'd almost managed to stop were once again cascading down her face in full force.

"I'm so proud of you," she mumbled through her sobs. "I've missed so much..."

x x x

"Say something."

"I don't know what to say."

"Yes, you do. You just don't know how to say it."

"I really don't understand why you want me to say something."

"Because I'm worried about you, Blaine, okay?" I breathed an exasperated sigh. "Your estranged mother just came back into your life and dumped it on you that your dad left her and she's knocked up. I just...I just need you to say something. I want to know how you feel about all this."

We hadn't gone back to the rest of rehearsal after our meeting with Lisa. Instead, we'd gone to Wes and Blaine's room to talk, where in the present moment I was sitting on Blaine's bed and his head was resting in my lap. Mercifully, Wes was still at rehearsal with the rest of the Warblers so we had some alone time in here for once.

"How do you think I feel?" Blaine practically shouted. I flinched.

"Oh my god, Kurt, I'm sorry," Blaine said softly after a few seconds of heavy silence. "I...didn't mean to yell at you like that. I'm just...really stressed. And freaked. And...I don't even know."

"It's okay. I'm here, I've got you. It's gonna be okay," I whispered, bringing one hand up to stroke his hair (which was slightly hard to do when it was gelled to perfection, as always). I noticed that a single dark curl had fallen out of place and hung alone above his forehead; I tucked it back into the coiffed flawlessness of the rest of his hair and leaned down to gently kiss that warm spot on his skin.

I smiled for the first time all afternoon when I noticed the heart-shaped box of chocolates that I'd bought him for Valentine's Day sitting on his desk. "Will chocolate make you feel better?" I asked, reaching over to grab the box and popping the shiny lid off the top.

"It might," Blaine said with a weak attempt at a smile.

"Chocolate helps everything," I declared as I slipped one piece into his mouth, and smiled again as my peripheral gaze landed on a stuffed animal that was sitting on the bed up near the pillow. "Chocolate and Kurtie Bear."

"Gimme," Blaine insisted with a real smile this time, quickly swallowing the candy he'd been chewing. I reached behind me, grabbed the bear, and tucked it into his arms with a smile of my own. He squeezed Kurtie Bear against his chest, and for some reason my heart melted. He was so precious; I could just see what he'd been like as a little boy.

"Chocolate, Kurtie Bear, and you," Blaine murmured, smiling up at me with gorgeous admiration shining in his eyes. "Especially that last one."

I popped another piece of chocolate into his mouth. "Glad I could help."

Blaine snuggled in closer to me as he chewed thoughtfully. "I don't deserve you," he said quietly. "You're too good to me."

"Of course I'm good to you. I love you." I leaned down and pressed a small kiss to the side of his face. "And I just need you to know that everything will be fine. I'll help you get through this."

"I just don't know what to do," he admitted. "I mean, I gave her my number...I guess she seems sincere, and if she wants to talk, I'll talk. She said she'll call me tomorrow...it's just weird having her back in my life again."

"I think she seems sincere, too," I said soothingly. "I think you should give her another chance. I know it's weird, but you have so much love in you, Blaine. Remember when you and I went to go talk to Karofsky in jail, and you hugged him? You forgave him. You can forgive her."

"We'll see," he mumbled as I fed him another piece of chocolate. Neither of us said a word for a long time after that. I just stayed there with him and kept holding him, because in that moment all he needed was to be held.


	24. Chapter 24

**Ok can we please talk for a moment about all the leaked videos that just came out recently. Like the Warblers' flash mob type thing of When I Get You Alone in Gap, and the fact that Blaine is singing to...some random dude who works at Gap, and not Kurt? Noooo. DNW. *grabs Blaine's shoulders & steers him in Kurt's direction* Blaine, this is who you need to sing to. His name is Kurt. He loves you. You love him. You were made for each other. Sing to him about getting _him_ alone. That is all.**

Actually, that's not all because TODAY IS MR. DARREN CRISS'S BIRFDAY. Well, it's been his birthday for an hour, since it's 1 in the morning right now. I intentionally stayed up late for the sheer purpose of spamming him with happy birthday tweets at exactly midnight. I don't even do that for my friends in real life on their birthdays. Oy vey.

This chapter is pretty much just filler, because I reeeeaaaalllllyyyy want to write New York but I feel like that's way too far ahead to just skip straight to it. Nothing too special, except the song. THE SONG. I'll just have you know that I adore Bruno Mars...I just got his album about a week ago and I've been listening to it constantly. It's amazing. He has such a unique sound, and all his songs are so catchy...every single song on the album is great, but my personal favorite is the one I used in this chapter. It's called Talking To The Moon, and it is so beautiful. I recommend you go listen to it right now, before you read this...or listen to it while you read it, whatever floats your boat.

And happy birthday (again) to my man Darren, even though he probably won't read this. (DC, if you do end up somehow reading this...um, hi? And I less than three you).

Chapter 24

Two days after the whole ordeal with Lisa, I was making my way across campus to the dining hall for lunch when all of a sudden a familiar hand unexpectedly grabbed mine.

"OhmygodBlaine." I practically tripped over my own feet as he fell into step beside me. Blaine and I usually just met at the dining hall; our classes before lunch were on the opposite sides of campus from each other. "Will you _please_ stop scaring me like that."

Blaine smiled mischievously and swung our hands between us as we walked. "I've said it before and I'll say it again: You get so adorably tense whenever I scare you." I rolled my eyes, but that just made him squeeze my hand tighter before he continued. "Anyway. I just wanted to catch you before lunch...I won't be eating with you guys today." He sighed, almost sounding upset. "My...mom called me yesterday, like she said she would. She wants to take me out to lunch so we can 'talk.'" This time Blaine was the one who rolled his eyes, making finger quotes with his free hand as he did so. "I decided to give her a chance, so she's taking me all the way up to Lima so we can go to Breadstix. Somehow she remembered that it was my favorite."

There were so many different emotions racing through his hazel gaze that it was hard to make sense of how he felt about all this - usually I could tell how he was feeling with just one glance, but this time it was difficult.

"Are you okay with this?" I asked quietly, pulling him closer to me as we walked, though I wasn't quite sure where we were going. I had to go to the dining hall, and he probably had to go up to the main office to sign himself out of school. It didn't matter. We just kept on walking, hand in hand.

"I'm fine," he mumbled. "It's just...a lot to think about, I guess."

"You don't _have_ to go," I said as reassuringly as possible. Suddenly I felt bad for having been all for him forgiving her; he was still obviously significantly upset.

"I know, but I want to. Like you said, I was the one who pushed you into forgiving Karofsky. You were just returning the favor." He attempted to smile.

"That's not exactly what I said, but whatever." As soon as I finished talking, I glanced in front of me and noticed that we had, after all, ended up in front of the dining hall.

Blaine's sad attempt at a smile stretched out a little further across his face as he gently pulled us to a stop beside the door. "Yeah...well, I should get going. She's probably here to pick me up by now."

I frowned, trying to think of an appropriate response. "Would it be weird for me to tell you 'good luck'?"

He laughed. "No, you're fine. I'm going to need it."

As he finished speaking, he leaned in and kissed me. I kept my eyes open at first, expecting it to be just a quick peck on the lips, but Blaine had other ideas. He turned it into a long, drawn-out kiss, one where it seemed like he never wanted to pull his lips off of mine. My heart started pounding erratically in my chest. He made perfection look so simple.

"In that case, good luck," I breathed when he finally let me go.

"Thanks." A small trace of a smile was still there on his face as he gave me one more kiss - _this_ one was just a peck.

Blaine turned to walk away, but before he took a step he pivoted back around to face me. "Oh, and don't let me forget. When I get back, I have a surprise for you." He winked. My heart stopped. A surprise? Color me intrigued.

"Okay, I won't," was my intelligent, breathless response.

He smiled and let his gaze linger on mine for just long enough to give me even more heart palpitations, and it wasn't until he turned his back and walked back the way we'd come that I could finally breathe like a normal, healthy person again.

I knew I should have been concerned about him because of this whole reuniting-with-his-mother thing. And I was. It's just that the last part of our conversation had managed to make me weak in the knees and drown me in curiosity at the same time. After standing there trying to regain control of my thoughts for quite a few moments, I hitched my bag over my shoulder and made my way into the dining hall for the most interminable lunch of my life.

…

"So...you're going back?"

The silence after my question seemed almost infinite as it hung in the musty air of the auditorium, which was empty save for Blaine and myself sitting in the front row of seats.

Blaine inhaled a shaky-sounding breath and let it out as a sigh. "Yes. She and I sat there at the restaurant for two whole hours after we finished our food, just talking. She explained herself and apologized a whole bunch of times and I told her I forgave her and then we both cried a lot. Then she asked if I'd like to come back home, and I said yes. I'll stay at my house for the rest of spring break after we get back from New York, and this summer, and whenever I come home on breaks from college."

Another long silence. I noticed he wasn't looking at me, so I stared at him until he met my gaze. "You're sure about this?" I asked gently.

He nodded. "Yes. I'm getting the feeling that she really is sorry...besides, she was never really all that...vocal, I guess, when I got kicked out. It was mostly just my dad yelling and screaming and calling me a fag, and my mom just stood there with this shocked look on her face like she didn't know what to do...didn't know what to say. I don't know if she ever really had a _huge_ problem with me being gay, to begin with. I think my dad definitely did, and some of his influence rubbed off on her."

As he finished talking, he let his head fall back against the seat and stared up at the ceiling. "She's obviously ready to put the past behind us and move on. I should be, too. Besides...," he smiled a little bit. "I'm finally gonna have a little brother or sister. I've been looking forward to this my whole life."

"You'll be an amazing big brother," I said quietly, returning his smile. "He...or she...'s gonna be so lucky to have you."

"Stop it," Blaine giggled, and I realized to my immense satisfaction that he was blushing. "You're flattering me too much...which reminds me. I need to flatter _you_. That was the whole point of me bringing you here-," he gestured all around us at the empty auditorium, "because I think it's about time for that little surprise I planned."

"Oh, yeah!" I felt my face brightening as I remembered. "I was gonna ask you about that."

He stood up from his seat and made his way up to the empty stage - well, it wasn't entirely empty, because there were some choir risers set up and a baby grand piano off to the side. Blaine took a seat at said piano and began shuffling around some sheet music that lay on top.

"I've been practicing my number for the NYU audition, and I wanted you to be the first to hear it," he called out from the stage to the only audience member: me. His voice echoed in the large, empty room. "Come on up here with me."

I must have looked pretty shocked, because he laughed a little bit and said, "Come on," again as he motioned me towards the stage. The only thing I could do was stand and make my way across the front aisle to the steps on the side of the stage, and make my way across it until I was sitting beside him on the piano bench.

"I think you'll like this one...at least, I hope you will." He giggled nervously once I was seated beside him. "You like Bruno Mars, don't you?"

"Yeah, he's great...we sang a few of his songs at my dad and Carole's wedd-"

I cut myself off as I finally noticed, for the first time, the title of the song at the top of his sheet music. "Oh my god...,"

Blaine seemed nervous all of a sudden. "Do you...not like this song?"

"No, no, I love this song," I explained quickly. It was hard to put into words that I already knew how beyond beautiful it would be to hear Blaine sing this song.

"In that case...," Blaine began playing the piano introduction as he spoke. "This is for you, then. I'll even tell them that at the audition. I'll say, 'This is for Kurt.'"

I shook my head. "You really don't have to do that."

Blaine didn't say anything in response, just smiled and played a few more chords of the introduction before he began to sing.

_I know you're somewhere out there, somewhere far away_

_I want you back, I want you back_

_My neighbors think I'm crazy but they don't understand_

_You're all I have, you're all I have_

I felt my breath catch in my throat as he crescendoed gradually into the first chorus. When he reached up just the slightest bit to the upper part of his range on the title words of the song, a chill rushed through my entire body.

_At night when the stars light up my room_

_I sit by myself talking to the moon, trying to get to you_

_In hopes you're on the other side, talking to me, too_

_Or am I a fool who sits alone, talking to the moon?_

As he finished the first chorus and played the piano pickup into the second verse, he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye to gauge my reaction so far. I could only imagine what my face must have looked like. How do you react to something so gorgeous?

_I'm feeling like I'm famous, the talk of the town_

_They say I've gone mad, yeah I've gone mad_

_But they don't know what I know, cause when the sun goes down_

_Someone's talking back, yeah they're talking back_

At first I thought the wet feeling on my face was sweat. It was pretty stuffy in this room, now that I thought about it, and I was wearing my thick uniform jacket...but as Blaine launched into the second chorus, I blinked and felt tears in my eyes. I hadn't even realized I'd started crying.

_At night when the stars light up my room_

_I sit by myself talking to the moon, trying to get to you_

_In hopes you're on the other side, talking to me, too_

_Or am I a fool who sits alone, talking to the moon?_

He sang a few quiet "ahhh"s as he played a short piano interlude before the bridge. Every once in a while, he would glance over at me again just when it seemed like he had completely lost himself in the music. I couldn't understand that. He could still continue playing and making this beautiful music, while all the while checking out how I was reacting to him. Why did he care what I thought? He was perfect enough on his own.

_Do you ever hear me calling?_

_Cause every night, I'm talking to the moon_

_Still trying to get to you_

More chills. More tears. It was incredible how he could do this to me with just a piano and his voice.

_In hopes you're on the other side, talking to me, too_

_Or am I a fool who sits alone, talking to the moon?_

A decrescendo as he started playing more softly. This time, when he looked at me before singing the last lines of the song he kept his gaze on mine the entire time.

_I know you're somewhere out there, somewhere far away_

"I didn't mean to make you cry," Blaine whispered after the last chord had been struck and echoed out into the empty auditorium.

I smeared my tears away and sniffed once to clear my nose before attempting to speak. "That...that was beautiful."

"You think so?" Blaine smiled with hopeful excitement as he lowered my hands away from my face and wiped the rest of my tears away with his thumb.

I nodded eagerly. "Absolutely. I _loved_ it, Blaine. I love _you_. And if they don't give you that full ride after you sing that song, they're crazy."

Blaine curled an arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him on the bench so he could press a soft kiss to the corner of my mouth. "Thank you," he whispered against my skin. "I just hope you're right."

I pulled back and smiled at him before giving him a real kiss of my own. "Who's your good luck charm, again?"


	25. Chapter 25

**Klaine is taking over my life lately, I'm not even kidding. The other night I had a dream that my car wouldn't start, and for some reason the doors wouldn't open so I couldn't get out, and all of a sudden I look over at the passenger side and Darren is sitting there, all Blained up in his Dalton uniform and with his hair slicked back. He started making all these weird suggestions like, "Try turning the key the other way to get it to start" and none of his ideas worked so finally I just said, "That's not helping, Darren." He looked really offended and said, "My name is _not_ Darren. It's Blaine." Then he somehow vanished and I was still stuck in the car, which still wouldn't start. It was weird.**

And then last week I had a dream in which Kurt was a real person and showed up on my front porch with Pavarotti, asking me if I would please take care of his bird while he and Blaine went to Hawaii for some "alone time." O_O I've always had weird dreams, but the fact that Klaine has been showing up in them lately somehow makes them weirder.

Anyway. I just kinda had to get that out there. This is another filler chapter, and it's going to be the last random one because I can't put off New York any longer. Next chapter will be their little sleepover the night before they leave, and it miiiiight be a little smutty. :D But not too much, because they'll be at Kurt's so there'll also be some cute little family fun times in there too.

Also, I'm not spilling what their song is just yet. I'm saving that for when I write Regionals :D

Chapter 25

I rolled over from my stomach onto my back and closed my eyes, letting the warm afternoon sunshine caress my face. Spring had officially started a week ago, and each of the past few days had been warmer than the last. Blaine and I had taken to going for long walks around Dalton's picturesque campus together, but today we had somehow ended up lazily stretched out in the grass of the luscious green quad at the north end of campus. I can't tell you how it happened. All I knew was that it was beautiful outside, I was with the boy I loved, and everything felt _so good_.

Even without looking, I could feel Blaine's eyes on me. I let a tiny smile grow on my face as I stretched my arms up over my head and tilted my face back so even more sun would wash over it. Finally, I turned my head to the side and slowly let my eyes drift open.

Blaine was lying in the grass beside me, and his hazel eyes were the first thing I saw when I opened mine. "What do you think _you're_ looking at?" I asked with a teasing smile.

"You look like an angel when the light hits your face like that," he said softly, pulling a dandelion out of the ground and twirling the stem between his fingers. "It's beautiful."

I smiled again and felt a blush adding to the warmth on my face as I turned on my side to face him with my head propped up on one hand. "Can you believe that at this time on Friday, we'll be in New York?" I asked absentmindedly. "I, for one, am just excited you're _finally_ getting your birthday present, almost two months later."

Blaine's smile slowly grew into a mischievous smirk. "If I'm not mistaken, I got what I wanted the _most_ for my birthday that night, in your room," he murmured as he crawled over top of me, pinning me to the ground as I squealed. "Am I right?"

It was hard to think when my heart was racing so fast because he was straddling me. We were both lying on the ground. And Blaine. Was straddling me. In public. As if it hadn't been fast enough already, my heartbeat only intensified when I tried to wrap my mind around this.

"I said, am I right?" Blaine growled into my mouth as he kissed me.

"Yes," I giggled against his lips. "God, Blaine, could you _try _to be more sexy? It's not fair to the rest of us."

"The rest of us?" He pulled back from the kiss and squinted down at me with confusion clouding his eyes.

"Meaning all of us not-as-sexy people, myself included."

Blaine shook his head in what seemed to be disbelief. "Oh, Kurt," he sighed as he brought one hand up to my cheek and gently caressed my face. He kissed my forehead to distract me as his hand moved down, his fingers trailing lightly over the fabric at the front of my shirt, so I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that his hand had crept under the hem of my shirt and was now slowly snaking up the bare skin of my chest.

"_You're_ sexy," he whispered, not letting my gaze travel anywhere except straight into his. "You are _so_ sexy, Kurt Hummel. I don't even think you _know_."

"I...," ..._can't finish this thought verbally,_ I finished in my head, letting my eyes flutter closed as his hand continued rubbing my chest under my shirt.

I felt his lips touch each of my closed eyelids in turn. "You have no idea what you do to me," he murmured with a sigh as he kissed my lips. "Dammit, Kurt, I can't even _explain_ it."

"Then don't," I breathed as I picked my head up and caught his bottom lip between both of mine. "Just show me."

And Blaine did exactly that. His lips gently nudged mine apart and his tongue slipped into my mouth to begin its now-familiar caress of my own. Still, no matter how many times we did this, it never ceased to steal all the air from out of my lungs. Every kiss left me breathless. _He _left me breathless.

"I love you," I gasped when we finally broke away for air.

Blaine looked straight into my eyes as his chest rose and fell right up against my own. "I love you," he declared in a low murmur that sent chills racing through my entire body.

I stared into his eyes, both of us trying to catch our breath for a few moments longer, when suddenly something hit me. "We...,"

"Oh, crap. Rehearsal." Blaine crawled off of me as it occurred to him that Warblers rehearsal would be starting any minute now. Today, for the first time, we'd be rehearsing our Regionals duet with the entire group. My heart raced excitedly in my chest at the thought of that. Or maybe its rapid beat was still aftershock from the kiss. Maybe it was both. I couldn't tell. I didn't care. I just knew I was happier than I'd ever been in my life.

…

"_Finally_," David sighed in exasperation as Blaine and I burst through the choir room doors. Sure enough, we were the last ones here; everyone else was turned around and staring at us. "We thought you'd never stop making out."

"You...saw?" I asked tentatively, feeling myself blushing furiously.

"We all kinda saw," Wes announced. "Most of us walk that way to get to this building, so it was kinda hard _not _to see."

"Can we sing the song now?" I asked under my breath, knowing nobody heard me.

Blaine reached up onto a nearby shelf and grabbed a stack of sheet music, then proceeded to hand a copy of said music to each person. "Kurt and I decided on our duet for Regionals," he said nonchalantly, as if the brief conversation that preceded had never happened. "You guys are all pretty good at sight reading, so just give it a try...the a capella part is right under the melody line, like usual."

He turned to me as the room became filled with the sound of guys flipping pages and humming pitches. "You ready?" he asked.

I smiled but didn't answer him. As the room quieted down, I opened my mouth and began to sing.


	26. Chapter 26

**First of all, thankyouthankyouthankyou all SO much for putting up with my boring-ass filler chapters. I'm really sorry nothing happened there for a while. This is still kind of filler...Blaine's sleeping over at Kurt's the night before NYC, and Kurt keeps his word on that fashion show he promised Blaine at the dance...but at least I had ideas for it. It's also pretty smutty near the end, and the next chapter will be pretty dirty too...I feel like a pervert for doing sex two chapters in a row, but I'm just going to warn you: after they get back from NYC, things are gonna turn pretty angsty. I've been planning the NY trip for a while, so I want that to be all happy and fun, but when they get home...prepare for some pretty heavy stuff. Just throwing that out there.**

**In news that has nothing to do with this story...Luke Edgemon tweeted me twice this week :D If you don't know who he is, he's one of the Warblers. AKA he knows Chris & Darren. I feel pretty epic. Maybe I should tweet him more and get him to reply to me more and we can become BFFs & he can introduce me to them (wishful thinking). Who knows. I just hope he doesn't somehow find out about this story (hell, this entire fanfiction ACCOUNT) because I feel like he'd probably block me if he found out I was writing creepy stories about his friends.**

**Also, one of Kurt's lines in here is an actual ChrisCo quote. If you can spot it, I'll give you a virtual Red Vine. :D**

Chapter 26

"I just realized I've never been to New York," Blaine commented as he swallowed a bite of pizza, then squinted at me. "Have I? If I have, it still hasn't come back to me yet."

I shook my head. "Nope. Not that you ever told me about, anyway."

"I've never been there either, Blaine," Finn said from across the table, smirking mischievously. "I'm not too worried about that, though. I'll be there in the summer for _Nationals_."

"Hey!" my dad shouted, laughing to let us know that he knew we were just joking around. "No glee club rivalry at the dinner table."

Finn hung his head with mock shame. "I'm sorry, sir."

"You should be." My dad laughed again and reached over to punch him lightly on the arm. "So you guys are all packed and ready to go, right?" he asked, turning to Blaine and me.

"Are you kidding me? Kurt has three Louis Vuittons all stuffed to the brim with the contents color-coded," Blaine teased, even though it was true. "And he's still in the process of filling up a fourth."

My dad nodded as he chewed a mouthful of pizza, as if he understood this completely. "Typical Kurt."

"Daaaaad." My tone was horrendously whiney, but I didn't care. Blaine rolled his eyes but smiled.

"What? You did the same exact thing when you and I went to Florida for spring break when you were in eighth grade," my dad said defensively, and to give him the benefit of the doubt, he was right.

"So, Blaine," Carole chimed in, sympathetic to the silent look I shot in her direction that begged her to change the subject. "I hear you're going back home to live with your mom after you and Kurt come back?"

"Yeah." Blaine nodded. "I mean, it was kind of a hard decision because she was one of the ones who just _abandoned _me, y'know? But she really seemed genuine about the whole thing, so I thought about it for a long time and Kurt gave me his two cents, and I decided to give her a chance. Plus, she's pregnant...it just seemed a little immoral to let the woman who raised _me_ raise another child as a single mother all on her own. I'll be away at school, but I still want to help her out as much as I can."

The whole pregnancy situation was news to Carole, who immediately started entertaining him with questions of due dates and possible names. And it was only in that moment that something hit me. Bill Anderson obviously wasn't around anymore. Blaine, even though he'd be the brother, would be the closest thing to a father figure in that baby's life. Hell, he was eighteen years older, so why not?

Still, I couldn't help but smile as I noticed his eyes lighting up with the excitement of having a little brother or sister. We had New York to look forward to, that was tomorrow, and then a little bundle of joy would come into our lives in just a few months...everything just seemed to be going so _perfectly_...

…

"Come on, Kurt, hurry up before I grow any older."

"Getting the outfit right takes _time_, Blaine, I figured you of all people would understand that."

"I do, but haven't you worn all these outfits before, anyway?"

"Your point?"

"Why don't you just change out here? I mean, it's not like I haven't seen you naked plenty of times before..."

"Calm down, pervert."

"I'm sorry you're so sexy and I can't help myself. Actually, no. I'm not sorry."

"I'm not changing out in my room where you can see me. That defeats the whole purpose of the _fashion show_ idea."

"Fine. You win."

I finally succeeded in pulling my arm through the narrow sleeve of my infamous black unitard, which apparently was too small on me now - I'd grown a few inches since the last time I'd worn this. I quickly pulled on the glittery vest that went over it and tied the narrow black scarf around my neck, all the while trying to calm my nerves. _Relax, Kurt. You are sexy. Blaine said so himself. And Blaine's pretty sexy. He knows what he's talking about_.

Before the voice in my head could start rambling any more, I took a deep breath, pulled open the bathroom door, and stepped out into my bedroom with as much sexiness as I could muster.

Blaine was lying on my bed, but he immediately sat up the second he saw me. I had the distinct pleasure of watching his expression cloud over with a blank stare, lips parted and eyes wide. Still, I knew I couldn't smile - comedy would have destroyed me. I stood with my legs apart, one hip jutted out to the side, my hands on my waist, chin lifted upwards just the tiniest bit.

"Do you like what you see?" The pitch of my voice was only about a half-step higher than usual and completely saturated with false innocence and lust. Blaine was the only person who ever heard my voice sound like this. In fact, during our little foreplay session last week before we made love for what had to be at least the tenth time by now, he'd called it my "sexy voice." Which was only exemplified with his next comment.

"I know that tone. That's your sexy voice." He rose from the bed and strode towards me. I fluttered my eyelashes, playing up my coy, innocent charm as he sized me up. His hands somehow found their way onto my hips and from there, they slid up my sides and over onto my chest and suddenly it felt like he was touching me _everywhere_ through that thin, thin fabric.

"Are you going to dance for me?" It was his turn to pretend to be the naive, innocent one. His hazel eyes were smoldering as he looked up at me through his eyelashes.

I smiled enticingly as I slipped out of his grasp and slowly began making my way across the room towards where my iPod speaker system was set up. It wasn't hard to notice that I could practically _feel_ him staring at my ass (which, I'm not going to lie, looked sinfully fantastic in that unitard). I stayed with my back to him as I turned on the speakers and scrolled through my iPod to find the song; Blaine made himself comfortable on my bed and settled in to watch the show.

I turned on the music, turned around to face him, and I danced. The second I started to do so, I knew I didn't need Blaine or my conscience to tell me I was sexy. I _knew_ I was sexy. I _felt_ sexy. For the entire duration of the song, Kurt Hummel was the sexiest man on the planet. It was such a beautiful, liberating feeling to be able to think of myself that way and not be ashamed of it.

But as soon as Beyoncé's voice finished doing its thing and the speakers went silent, I felt vulnerable again. I stayed in my ending pose, gasping for breath, waiting for Blaine to say something.

He didn't say anything. He got up from the bed, walked over to me in the middle of the room, and knelt at my feet, which he kissed. He kissed his way up my legs, over my thighs, over the bulge created by my now-obvious hard on. He kept on kissing up my stomach and chest; the material of the unitard was so thin that it almost felt like he was kissing my bare skin. He stood up to reach the top of my chest and my neck and _finally_ along the edge of my jaw, over to my cheek, and onto my lips.

"I worship every single inch of you," he said breathlessly as he broke the kiss. "Hot _damn_, Kurt, if Dalton didn't have a uniform policy, I wouldn't complain if you walked around in this every day."

I blushed and suddenly was overcome with immense shyness. "Stop it," I said quietly to the floor.

"No, Kurt." Blaine gently lifted my chin up so I was making eye contact with you. "Haven't we been through this before? You are _sexy_. You _know_ you're sexy. _I_ know you know you're sexy. You wouldn't have danced like that and made bedroom eyes at me the whole time if you didn't think so."

"Well, with _that _being said...," I slipped away from his embrace with newfound confidence and smiled over my shoulder as I headed back into the bathroom. "You have one sexy football player coming your way in just a second."

I'd forgotten how much effort it took just to cram my tiny frame into those stupid pads, but somehow I managed to do it. For some reason, I'd decided that creating the full effect would be a wise choice, which is why I also laced up my cleats and winced as I shoved the helmet onto my head. I couldn't help but laugh as I looked at myself in the mirror, because I looked so ridiculous, but I pulled open the door and stepped out into my bedroom all the same.

Blaine obviously didn't think I looked ridiculous, because I somehow succeeded in making his jaw drop for a second time. It seemed like he was at a loss for words as he stood up from the bed again and started making his way over towards me.

"You look...," he paused in front of my and placed his hands on my shoulder pads.

I stared out at him from behind the helmet. "Yes?"

"This turns me on _way_ more than it probably should," he admitted, stepping closer to take me in his arms. I gasped when I felt his hard cock pressing right up against mine through my pants, and he must have felt that same overwhelming sensation because of the way he breathed, "Kurt, _fuck_..."

"Yes, please," I said in my so-called sexy voice, which was somewhat muffled by the helmet.

Blaine stepped back and looked me over again. "These pants leave absolutely nothing to the imagination, and I love it," he declared, smirking as he took my hand and led me over to the bed.

I giggled as he pushed me down onto the mattress and pulled my helmet off, tossing it under the bed. "Somehow, I didn't think you'd mind."

"Just like _you_ don't mind the fact that your hair got all messed up from that helmet and you look hot as fuck." Blaine leaned down to kiss me as he finished speaking, and I felt myself blushing. It was quite incredible to know that I could reduce him to such language, because hearing him curse was kind of hot...okay, _really_ hot.

The next hour or two was a blur of sweaty skin on sweaty skin; urgent, desperate kisses; moans, screams, whimpers; and whispered "I love you"s completed with the other's name. When it was over, I lay in his arms and attempted to catch my breath - it was difficult, but I didn't mind. Knowing what had just happened between Blaine and I made the whole not-being-able-to-remember-how-to-breathe thing completely worthwhile.

"Well done, Blaine," I complimented him politely. "It'll be difficult for me to walk around New York City for the next few days, but I can live with that."

"Oh my god, Kurt, I'm sorry," Blaine gasped. "How badly did I hurt you?"

I shook my head reassuringly. "No, no, not bad at all. It hurts, but the pain feels good. Really." I picked my head up off his chest and smiled as I kissed his lips. "Now we _really_ need to get to sleep, we have to get up early and we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Good idea." Blaine kissed my forehead. "Sweet dreams, Kurt. Love you."

"Love you too, Blaine." I snuggled down against him, but before I closed my eyes, I managed to sneak one quick glance at the glowing red numbers of the clock on my bedside table. It was past midnight. Today was officially the day Blaine would get his present that I'd worked so hard to put together.

"Oh, and happy birthday, _finally_."


	27. Chapter 27

**Yaaaaay for more smut and (gasp) top!Kurt. Yes, I went there. Hope it worked out. xD**

And for those of you who guessed the quote correctly in the last chapter: yes, it was "Calm down, perverts!" -hands out Red Vines-

Chapter 27

"Kurt? Blaine? Time to get up, guys."

The sound of my father's voice from my bedroom stairs made it glaringly clear to me that a whole lot of awkward was about to happen. My dad was ambling down into my room, about to find me naked and in bed with another naked boy. Various discarded pieces of my football uniform lay scattered on the floor, having been thrown off by Blaine in a fit of passion. Daddy Dearest was about to be witness to this scene in about five seconds.

There was no way to avoid it, so I decided that pretending to still be asleep would be the best option. I quickly reached down and pulled the blanket up to waist level and closed my eyes as I snuggled back against Blaine, who, thankfully, was still asleep. My dad, upon hearing no verbal response, took the liberty of descending the stairs further and call out again.

"C'mon, guys, you've got a big day ahead of you and we need to get to the airpo-"

From the way he suddenly choked off his sentence, I figured we must have been exactly in his line of sight. He didn't say anything else; I imagine he was probably frozen in place, but I didn't dare open my eyes. A few seconds later, I heard the sound of his retreating footsteps heading back up the stairs.

My eyes were still closed as a pair of soft lips gently touched my forehead. I slowly opened my eyes and smiled at Blaine, who looked wide awake even though I could have sworn he'd just been asleep.

"Way to play along," I whispered, picking my head up off his chest so I could kiss him properly.

Blaine smiled. "What was I supposed to do? Sit up straight with my eyes wide open and be all, 'Hey, Burt. I obviously just had sex with your son last night. Good morning!'?"

"Good point," I giggled. "Now we just have to go upstairs and face his wrath." Blaine's face turned practically bone white as soon as I finished talking, so I added, "Kidding. I'm sure he won't say anything. It's just as awkward for him as it is for us."

Which is of course why my dad decided to prove me wrong the second we stepped through the door at the top of the stairs after getting dressed and ready.

"Blaine, could I talk to you for a second, please?" My dad stood up from the table, where Carole and Finn were also seated and looking suddenly surprised.

"Uh...sure." Blaine was trying very hard not to look uncomfortable as he squeezed my hand and followed my dad out into the living room. I took my usual seat at our breakfast table and nervously began piling food onto my plate, and I hadn't realized that the kitchen was completely silent until we suddenly started to hear my dad's muffled voice drifting our way from the other room.

"So Blaine...," my dad's voice sounded incredibly awkward, "how long have you and Kurt been...uh, y'know...?"

"The first time was on my birthday." Blaine's voice was quiet, like it always was when he was embarrassed; I could only imagine how red his face must have been. "February 5. So almost two months. It's not like, every night or anything..."

"So how do you guys decide when? Do you...do you _talk_ about it, or does it just happen?" My dad still sounded awkward, but I knew he was doing this for "my own good," as he'd probably tell me when I confronted him about it. I could hear his future voice in my head right now: _It's for your own good, Kurt. I need to make sure that boy is treating you right_.

I rolled my eyes. Carole looked like she wanted to say something to break the tension, but kept her mouth shut, which was probably a good thing. I wanted to make sure my dad wasn't saying anything _too_ mortifying.

"We don't talk about it, we kinda just...know," Blaine said softly. "Usually, it just happens."

My dad sighed. "Okay. Look, I'm sorry about this, I know you're probably uncomfortable talking about this, but Kurt's my little boy. I just gotta make sure he's not being hurt."

"Kurt is _not_ 'little,'" Blaine giggled. "I mean, he's so short and skinny, but you get his pants off and he's-"

Blaine's voice trailed off as he realized this was probably not the best thing to say in front of my father. Scratch that...not the best thing to say within earshot of my entire family. I let my forehead fall against the table and buried my head under my arms.

"That's _way_ more than I needed to know...," my dad mumbled, then sighed. "Okay, I'll pretend you didn't say that...it's just a little unnerving as a parent to know that my son is sexually active. Like I said, I'm trying to make sure he's not getting hurt."

"He's not, I promise," Blaine explained. "As you might imagine, the way guys like us...do...it...is naturally a little painful, but I would never hurt him any more than necessary. Unless he asked me to hurt him, that is."

My dad was wisely ignoring Blaine's last sentence. "So wait...does Kurt ever...um, top?"

I took a moment if it would be too unsophisticated of me to crawl under the kitchen table and remain there for the rest of my life.

"He hasn't yet," Blaine was explaining. "So far, it's always been me...Kurt hasn't expressed any outward interest in wanting to try that, but if he ever did, I would be open to it."

With my face still buried into the table, I smiled to myself. I couldn't believe the concept of topping hadn't occurred to me before...suddenly it sounded remarkably appealing. Well, tonight we would be all alone in a hotel in the middle of New York City. We were supposed to go to _Wicked_ tonight, but I'd changed that and rescheduled our flight for a day early so we'd have more time to unpack and unwind our first night in the city. We would have no rush, and we'd be all alone...

"Burt?" Carole called out to the living room, reaching over to rub my back reassuringly. "Finish up and let poor Blaine get something to eat before we have to leave. I think you've humiliated him enough."

My dad sighed audibly coming from the other room. He murmured something to Blaine that was too low for me to hear, but Blaine's response was as clear as day.

"I know, Mr. Hummel..I mean Burt...I mean Sir. I love your son. I love him more than anything else on this planet. He is so beautiful, inside and out, and I would never even _dream _of breaking his heart."

"Thank you," my dad said gruffly but humbly. "Now come on, you need to eat."

I didn't dare pick up my head until my dad and Blaine had both re-entered the kitchen. Blaine slid into the empty seat next to me; there was a blush fading from his cheeks, but he was smiling. I squeezed his hand under the table as a subtle sign that I'd heard everything...especially the last part.

…

"Wow," Blaine said breathlessly as he glanced around the spacious, wood-paneled interior of the elevator. "Just..._wow_."

"It's an elevator, Blaine," I said flatly, but my expression softened as I reached over to press our floor number on the gold-plated button panel. "Not gonna lie, though, this place is even nicer than I expected."

He smiled at me as the doors slid shut and the elevator began sliding up, presumably to the tenth floor. "I mean, they took our luggage up to the room for us and everything. Seriously, Kurt, I am _never_ going to be able to thank you enough for this. We've been in New York for half an hour, and my mind's already blown."

"You're welcome," I murmured, pulling him closer as he stood on his tiptoes to kiss me.

The elevator ride didn't take very long, which is why we were still kissing when the doors opened up to empty us out on the tenth floor. It wasn't until an annoyed-looking businessman standing on the other side of the doors cleared his throat that we finally broke apart. Blaine laced his hand through mine and we stepped out of the elevator to let the narrow-minded man board. I had forgotten all about him by the time we reached the door to Room 1012.

"This is it," I mumbled as I stuck the keycard into its slot and watched the tiny green light turn on. I pulled the door open and stepped aside to let Blaine through first; his face grew into an amazed smile as he stepped into the extravagant room.

"Kurt," he whispered as I stepped beside him to take his hand. "This is incredible."

I shrugged. "I knew nothing I got you for your birthday would be worthy of how perfect you are," I said quietly. "I hope this at least comes close."

"My memory's still not back all the way," Blaine murmured as he took me in his arms. "I still can't remember what I did that was so amazing that made some higher being think I deserved _you_."

"You've always just been yourself," I said softly. "Your wonderful, beautiful, amazing self. That's what won me over. I never thought I believed in love at first sight, until I met you."

Blaine breathed a sigh that sounded like surrender as he leaned in and kissed me - hard. It didn't take me long to figure out what he wanted to do, and my mind flashed back to the conversation I'd overheard this morning. Blaine was obviously incredibly turned on; I could feel him growing harder and harder even through our clothes. He backed me up without taking his lips from mine and didn't stop until the backs of my knees slammed gently against the bed, which we then collapsed onto, still holding our lips together.

Blaine had landed on top of me, so I took it upon myself to flip us over so he was lying underneath me and I was straddling his waist. As soon as I was situated, I touched my lips to his and we picked up exactly where we'd left off. I kissed him with passion and desire burning on my lips, and I could taste it on his as well. I swallowed the sound of my own name as he moaned it into my mouth; I broke the kiss just for one quick second so I could pull his shirt off over his head.

"It's my turn now," I murmured as I rubbed his bare chest and tweaked his nipples to hardness. "I heard you and my dad talking this morning. I'm glad you're open to this idea."

"Yes...," he gasped as I kissed his neck, creating several small hickeys that marked him as _mine_. "Please, Kurt, I want you."

"What, exactly, do you want from me?" I purred as I let him lift my own shirt off.

"I want your cock in me," he breathed as I leaned down again and feathered a column of soft kisses straight down the middle of his chest. "I want it, Kurt. _Please_."

"I like it when you beg for me." I smirked and pulled his jeans and boxers both off in one fluid motion. He stared up at me - naked, exposed, vulnerable, beautiful. His hazel eyes were dark and filled with lust that only intensified as I gave his hard cock one light stroke.

"I'll take care of you," I whispered as I stroked him again. He squirmed with desire beneath me. "I promise."

"Dammit, Kurt, _fuck_," Blaine growled. "You're such a fucking tease."

"I know." I stood up for a brief second so I could do away with my own pants and boxer briefs, then rejoined him on the bed. "But you like it."

I started stroking him again, harder this one time, distracting him as I bent over to reach into the suitcase that the bellhop had conveniently placed right beside the bed. My hand groped around blindly in the suitcase until it closed around the familiar curve of the bottle of lube. Blaine's eyes widened as I pulled it out and smiled as I let him register what it was.

"Let's see how tight you are," I murmured, my heart racing with excitement as I squirted some lube onto my fingers. "You've done this to yourself, I assume?"

"Yes," Blaine mewled, letting his legs spread for me as I slipped one finger into him.

I slid that finger in and out a few times, enjoying the tightness of him around me. "How many fingers?"

"I've gotten four in before," Blaine gasped as I slid in another finger and scissored inside him. "Oh my _god_, Kurt..."

"And what do you think about when you're doing this to yourself?" I added another finger and began stroking his cock again with my free hand. "Maybe I should ask, _who_ do you think about?"

"You," he whimpered. Another finger. I had four in him now and _fuck_ he was so tight. "Always you, Kurt...oh, Kurt, _yes_." He seemed to like the way I was fucking him with practically my entire hand now. I figured I must have been doing something right.

I smiled as I pulled my hand out and lubed up my cock, unable to believe this was happening. I, Kurt Hummel, was about to fuck an extremely hot boy in the ass. My life was amazing.

"Ready for me?" I whispered as I crawled over him, looking into his eyes after I'd lined myself up.

"Yes. _Please_, Kurt. I _need _you."

He looked so beautiful when he begged...I couldn't resist him anymore. Very carefully, I pushed the head of my cock into that wonderful tightness.

"More," he gasped.

I inched into him the tiniest bit more. More tightness pulsating around me. Why hadn't I thought of doing this ever before?

"All the way."

"As you wish," I murmured, smiling as I buried the rest of my cock deep inside him. His eyes flew open, then fluttered closed as he slowly moaned my name.

"Does it hurt?" I asked quietly, stroking his sweat-soaked cheek with the back of my hand.

"Yes, dammit, Kurt, it hurts...more, please."

"Are you sure?" I pulled out a few inches.

"Fucking _yes_ I'm sure."

And so there was nothing left for me to do but pull out completely and thrust back in, eliciting a tiny whimper from somewhere in the back of his throat. He seemed to like that, so I did it again...and again...and after a few times, I hit something inside him that he _really_ seemed to like.

"God, Kurt, _yes_, oh fuck...there...Jesus _fuck _right there _Kurt_..."

He was completely falling to pieces beneath me, and it was all because I'd chosen to do this to him. It blew my mind that I could make such a beautiful man fall apart like this...I must have never known my own strength.

He lasted a surprisingly long time, given the frequency of his moans. I gladly rocked in and out of him, immensely enjoying the feel of him around me and the way he screamed my name, begging for more. I felt sexier than ever before in my life. I felt powerful. I felt _alive_.

"Will you come for me now, Blaine?" I murmured as I thrust in another time, stroking his cheek lovingly. I could tell just from looking at him that he was trying so hard to hold back, but he had just about reached the edge.

He nodded quickly before letting go completely and spraying my chest and stomach with his creamy white essence. I followed a fraction of a nanosecond later, my scream blending into his moan and both of them melting away as we came down off our high.

"_No_," he insisted as I moved to pull my spent cock out of him. "Stay."

I kissed his uncharacteristically messy curls. "If you insist."

"Next time I want something like this, I guess I'll just have to make sure you overhear me talking about it to your dad," he murmured drowsily, obviously exhausted as he snuggled in closer to me.

"Let's not and say we did," I whispered, kissing his lips gently. "You look exhausted."

"I am," he admitted. "There was..._that_...and jet lag."

"Go to sleep. It's a little early, but you look like you need to rest."

"Okay." He smiled adorably as I pulled him closer to me. "Love you, Kurt..."

"I love you too, Blaine." I stroked his hair lovingly, soothing him, and within seconds, he was asleep with me still inside him.

Everything felt so perfect as I, too, drifted off to sleep with him in my arms - like it was too good to be true. Unfortunately, within the next week, I would find that that was exactly the case.

_Nothing good can last_...


	28. Chapter 28

**Hi. I haven't updated for a few days. Let's have a chat about all the Klaine-related stuff that went down this week.**

1. Darren's OUT magazine photoshoot. Yeah, you know. THAT one. The one where everyone was all "Oh, hey there Darren in various stages of undress. You need to take your clothes off more often, because you actually have really nice abs. I'm pleasantly surprised. Oh, by the way, I'm now pregnant with your baby."  
...that's what I was like after seeing those pictures, anyway. Dunno about you.

2. The AMAAAAAAZING Glee this week that had SO MUCH KURT and SO MUCH BLAINE in it. I mean like whoa. They both had soooooo much screen time, I was almost sick of seeing them by the time it was over. (/sarcasm)

3. Please excuse me while I yell at Blaine in Spanish.  
Blaine, Blaine, Blaine...ay, chico, ¿¡QUÉ PENSABAS! Vas a ROMPER el corazón de Kurt, quien te QUIERE. ¿Cómo puedes besar a Rachel EN FRENTE DE KURT? No te puedo creer. Díos mío. Próxima vez, besa a Kurt en vez. Yo sé que él te gusta, mucho, y puedo ver por qué. Kurt es...pues, Kurt es SEXÍSIMO. Debes besarle, pronto, para mostrarle que verdaderamente lo quiere. :)  
..."Okay, I think we've seen enough!"  


Chapter 28

"Oh, my god."

I squeezed Blaine's hand and smiled so huge my face practically broke as the two of us took our seats for _Wicked_. This was the moment I'd been dreaming about since I was five. I was in a Broadway theater, about to see a Broadway show, live and in person, and I was with an extremely beautiful man. Life couldn't get any better. I was still freaking out as we got situated and Blaine opened up the playbill to skim the cast list.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. Blaine."

He turned and smiled at me as he folded the playbill back. "Yes?"

"We are on Broadway."

"I realize that. You've been adorably spastic all day long, I love it." He kissed my nose, eliciting a slightly embarrassing giggle from me. "You're right, though, this is really something. I haven't seen a live musical in...well, ever, let alone a Broadway show."

I shrugged. "I've been to a few of those Broadway Across America shows when they come through town, but that was a long time ago." I racked my brain, trying to remember the last show I'd been to. "I can't even remember what the last thing I saw live was. I think the last musical I watched was that Harry Potter one on YouTube."

"Oh, yeah." Blaine nodded as he realized what I was talking about. "I heard about that one. Who's in it, again?"

"Ummm...," I couldn't for the life of me remember the lead actor's name. "Darren Something played Harry. I only remembered that because his name is your middle name. Darren Criss? Yeah, that's it."

Blaine made a face. "Ew, I hate that guy."

I frowned. "Oh, I know, me too."

As we spoke, the lights in the theater slowly started to get dimmer and dimmer, signaling that the show was due to start any minute now. Suddenly Blaine was the one grabbing my hand and mumbling, "Oh my god. This is it. Oh my god," excitedly under his breath.

I squeezed his hand back. "_Now_ who's being adorably spastic?"

"Shut up." He stuck his tongue out at me.

I couldn't think of anything to say in response to his cuteness, because at that exact moment, the curtain went up.

…

I couldn't stop smiling as Blaine and I walked away from the stage door after the show that night, flipping through my autographed playbill. We'd just met a good portion of the cast - something I hadn't even realized you could do until I'd overheard the lady behind me telling her group about how "we should go stand by the stage door and see who we can meet." I was, in fact, so excited that I ran into multiple people while staring at my autographs instead of paying attention to where I was walking.

"Kurt." Blaine reached over and curled his arm around my waist to pull me away from an especially large woman who I'd just crashed into on the sidewalk outside the theater. I shot her a quick apologetic smile; she glared at me. Or at us. Probably us. It always was.

"Do I need to take that from you?" He smirked and plucked the playbill from between my fingers. I made a tiny noise of protest as he folded it shut and gently slid it into the back pocket of his jeans.  
"You were kind of running into people," he said simply.

I folded my arms across my chest and pretended to look mad. "I don't _care_," I grumbled. "I just met the Broadway cast of _Wicked_. I can run into whoever I want."

"I'll give you back your playbill when we get to the hotel, I promise," Blaine said comfortingly.

I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Awww, come on." He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close against his chest as we walked. "I loooooove you."

It was so hard to pretend to be mad at him when he was all cute like that. I smiled up at him. "I love you, too."

"By the way, we're not going back to the hotel," Blaine quipped mischievously.

"You suck."

"Not in public, baby." He winked. "That's for when we get back to the hotel, too."

"Perv." I stepped on his foot as we continued walking.

"Ow! Hey, what was that for?"

"You still haven't told me where we're going."

…

Blaine never did tell me where he was taking me. It wasn't until we were in Central Park, taking a moonlit stroll along a quiet path, that I realized that this must have been it. I wasn't complaining. This was one of those perfect, sweet little romantic moments I'd fallen asleep dreaming about my whole life. I had never dated anyone before Blaine, so I didn't have much to compare him to, but over the past six months he'd been racking up points like crazy in the Best Boyfriend Ever department.

"Y'know what I just realized?" Blaine mused, breaking the silence that had lingered in the air as we walked hand-in-hand through the quiet park.

I leaned over and rested my head on his shoulder. "What's that?"

"Whatever I get you for your birthday is going to be total crap compared to this," he murmured dejectedly. "This is _amazing_, Kurt, but I'm never going to be able to live up to it."

"Well, you have until the end of May to think about it," I joked before returning to seriousness. "Kidding. Blaine, you could pick up this rock and give it to me...," I kicked a small stone on the path, being careful not to scuff my shoes, "and it would still be the best present ever since it came from _you_."

Blaine let go of my hand and stepped forward to pick up the rock. He held it out in the palm of his hand and looked up at me with his hazel eyes wide.

"Thank you," I giggled, leaning down to kiss his lips.

"I'll do you one better." Blaine abruptly broke the kiss and bent over to pull a small flower from between one of the cracks in the pavement.

"It's kind of funny," he commented as he slipped the stem of the tiny flower between my fingers. "Seeing a flower growing right in the middle of the pavement like that. You'd think people would have stepped on it and crushed it or whatever, but somehow it managed to hold its ground."

"It's a violet," I said lamely as I admired the purple petals, unable to think of an intelligent response to his aphorism.

Blaine nodded. "Faithfulness. As in, 'I will always love you, and only you, for the rest of my life. I will always be true to you.'"

I smirked, even though my heart felt like it was about to burst with little love explosions. "Flower language? Wow, Blaine, maybe you really _are_ gay."

"I know, right? Total shocker." He pulled me into his arms and leaned his forehead against mine. "I mean it, though."

I blushed and smiled at the violet between m fingers. "Forever?"

"Forever," Blaine declared.

He stood on his tiptoes and reached up to kiss me passionately beneath the glittering city lights and stars.


	29. Chapter 29

**Yay everybody for noticing the subtle little Darren quote I threw into the last chapter. Love explosions. I wasn't expecting anyone to catch that, but I guess more of you saw that video than I thought. Good job. -distributes crazy amounts of Red Vines like whoa-**

I HAS A DILEMMA. A huge dilemma, relating to my plans for this summer. I have two options.  
Option #1: See Klaine & Friends at the Glee tour on June 14 in Cleveland (which I already bought tickets for). This is the only concert I haven't been to that I really, really want to see. Seeing Chris & Darren in person is necessary to my life. Or...  
Option #2: Go on a two-week long trip with my boyfriend's family, to visit relatives of his who apparently want to meet me...who live in Hawaii. I've lived in Ohio my whole life. I've never been further west than Chicago. This would be like my dream come true. Problem? We'd be gone the same exact week as the concert, most likely.  
Sooo. I have no idea what I want to do adlfjalsgjalsfgbjaldfjas;gbajsdf;l. Either way, this summer will be awesome, but still. I hate making decisions. D:

Anyway. I just had to vent about that and the fact that the chances of me going to both are slim to none. No angst in this yet, that'll come in...oh, 2 or 3 more chapters, maybe. Just a fair warning.

Also, I made a Tumblr this week (there's a link on my profile page). You should follow me, if you feel so inclined to help me get more than 15 followers. Let me know who you are so I can follow you back. :D  


Chapter 29

I opened my eyes in the morning to find Blaine...well, I didn't actually find Blaine anywhere. He wasn't in bed. I had a mild panic attack before glancing over to the nightstand and finding a note scribbled on a yellow Post-It.

_Good morning beautiful :) I woke up early so I could go down and __annoy people by practicing__ some scales on the piano in the front lobby before my audition. Come on down whenever you wake up, we'll get some breakfast and then head over to NYU. See you in a little bit, love you. xo -B._

I smiled and set the note back where I'd found it. Only Blaine could make me smile by writing a couple cute words on a Post-It. Reaching down into my suitcase, I quickly pulled out an outfit for the first part of the day and got dressed in record time before heading out the door and riding the elevator downstairs.

There was a small crowd gathered around the piano when I reached the lobby. I couldn't even see Blaine, but I could hear his voice - he was only singing a simple _do re mi fa so fa mi re do ti la so la ti do_, repeated a half step higher each time, accompanying himself on the piano. Still, his voice sounded so pure and beautiful, it was no wonder random strangers seemed so attracted to it.

I gently pushed my way through the people and sat next to him at the piano bench. "Annoying people, huh?"

Blaine shrugged even as his fingers kept dancing up the scale. "I try."

"Oh, is this the boy you were telling us about?" asked a random woman who had been listening to him sing. I raised an eyebrow and looked at him suspiciously. He'd been talking about me?

"Yes. Actually, it is." Blaine smiled proudly as his fingers wandered off from the scale into an impromptu composition of their own. "Guys, this is Kurt."

"Hi." I glanced around the group and waved awkwardly.

The lady who'd spoken smiled at me. "Your boyfriend is very talented."

"Thank you," Blaine and I both responded at the same time, sharing a shy glance. I, meanwhile, mused this whole fascinating situation over in my head. Here I was, in a crowded hotel lobby, next to a boy who had already publicly declared me to be his boyfriend, and people seemed to be accepting of that fact. Only in New York. I was starting to really, really like it here.

Blaine pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time. "Oh, wow, I didn't realize what time it was...we really have to get going. Thanks, guys!"

He stood up from the piano and waved as his newfound fans called good luck wishes after him. I grabbed his hand as we headed across the lobby into the continental breakfast room, but didn't speak until the little crowd was completely out of earshot.

"What the hell was that all about?"

Blaine shrugged as he poured a cup of coffee "I dunno. I just came down and started playing and singing a few quiet scales...people heard, they came over, told me they liked my voice, they stayed and listened. I told them I'm from Ohio and came out here to audition at NYU."

He handed me the coffee he'd just poured; I accepted it graciously. "Oh, thank you. So you're kinda famous already, huh?"

Blaine reached into the fruit basket, picked up a banana, stared at it for a second, then put it back. He turned back to the coffee and poured a cup for himself. "I wouldn't consider myself 'famous,' but thank you."

"You'll be famous someday. And you're welcome."

He smiled as he took a long swing of coffee, then turned to look at the rest of the breakfast buffet. "Y'know, I'm actually not too hungry. Are you?"

"You need to eat _something_," I insisted. "You have a really important audition."

Blaine held up his cup of coffee.

"Coffee doesn't count." I rolled my eyes and picked up the banana he'd just been examining, shoving it into his hand. "Eat the damn banana, Blaine."

"Fine." He set his coffee cup down on the counter - not noticing the fact that a line of annoyed, hungry hotel patrons was starting to form behind him - and quickly unpeeled the banana.

The second his mouth closed around the tip of the fruit, I immediately started hating myself. Out of all the apples and oranges and grapefruits and whatnot that had been in that basket, I had to hand him a _banana_. Watching him eat it was torture. I was about to get insanely, visibly hard, in my True Religion skinnies, in front of a whole line of random strangers who were impatiently waiting for him to finish eating so they could get their food.

My face flushed an unimaginable shade of red as I turned away from him and pretended to be extremely interested in examining the rest of the fruit in the basket.

"Are you happy?" Blaine's sudden voice snapped me out of my reverie. I turned around in time to see him swallowing the last of the banana and wadding the peel up in his hand.

I took his free hand and pulled him away from the front of the line as he tossed the peel into a nearby trash can. "Yes. Let's go." I turned around to smile at him. "You're not done impressing people yet."

…

The audition was long. For some reason, I thought he was just going to go in there, sing Talking To The Moon, get told that he'd won the scholarship, and come right back out. Unfortunately, that's not what happened. Blaine went into the audition room at 11 o'clock on the dot and didn't come out until one, during which time I sat in an uncomfortable chair in the hallway and attempted to listen to my iPod. I never got past the first thirty seconds of a song before changing it.

Finally, after what felt like an interminable lifetime, the doorknob turned. I stopped breathing.

"...and thank you again for coming to show us your talents. Welcome to New York University, Mr. Anderson. Congratulations."

The voice belonged to a balding, important-looking man in a suit who was shaking Blaine's hand on his way out the door. Blaine looked exhausted, but that was practically masked by the one of the biggest smiles I'd ever seen on his face. He thanked the man, who congratulated him one more time before turning and heading back into the room, then turned his attention to me once we were alone.

No words needed to be said. In the silence of the hallway, I returned his smile and stepped forward to pull him into my arms. My lips met his and it wasn't long before I was completely lost in him. I couldn't even begin to describe the immense amount of happiness that was coursing through my entire body in that moment.

"I got it," Blaine gasped as soon as we broke the kiss. The smile had never left his face. "Full ride music scholarship."

"I knew you would," I murmured, burying my face into that nice, warm spot between his neck and his shoulder. "I am so, so proud of you."

"You know I never would have come out and done this if it weren't for you," he whispered as he kissed the top of my head. "You were the one who pretty much told me to man up and just do it."

I smiled as I picked up my head to look at him. "It's just what you've always told me," I said softly.  
"And what's that?" Blaine leaned his forehead against mine.

"Courage."

…

Later that night, Blaine and I were standing in front of the Mecca of the baseball world.

"Yankee Stadium," he murmured quietly, more to himself than to me. "My dad always told me he'd take me here for my sixteenth birthday. My whole life, whenever I asked about coming here, that was what he said. 'When you're sixteen, Blaine. I promise I'll take you up to New York, and we'll see a game there.'"

He shook his head, smiling the tiniest bit. "Then they tore the old one down a couple years ago and built this. And my dad's an asshole, but I got my favorite boy in the world to take me instead. On Opening Night, of all nights. Thank you." He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed my forehead. "I mean it, Kurt. Thank you so much."

"No big deal. Just wanted to spoil my man." I took his hand and led him forward towards the ticket gate, where a stadium worker verified our tickets and stepped aside to let us through. "So how does it feel, being here after you've waited for so long?"

"Crazy," Blaine admitted. "But totally awesome. Have I thanked you yet?"

"Multiple times." I laughed and pulled him through the gate towards the smell of hot dogs and popcorn. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

"Me too. I haven't eaten anything since that banana," Blaine commented as we stepped up to the nearest food stand. "What do you want?"

I grabbed his wallet out of his hand and shoved it into my pocket. "Don't even think about it. This is _my_ treat."

Blaine pouted. I kissed him. "I'll give it back to you _after_ I order the food. What do you want?"

He scanned the menu quickly. "Want to share a box of popcorn?"

The people in front of me finished paying and took their food, so I stepped up to the register. "A medium popcorn, please."

The man slid the box across the counter and I in turn handed him a five, instructing him to keep the change before I took the box and turned back to Blaine.

"You can have this if you promise not to buy me anything." I pulled my wallet out of his pocket and held it out to him.

"Okay." He took the wallet and immediately proceeded towards a vendor selling Yankee caps. "One, please."

He forked over a twenty and the man handed him a hat. Blaine smiled triumphantly and turned back to me.

"No." I shook my head. "Go take it back. I told you, no buying me stuff."

"Who said it's for you?" Blaine pocketed his wallet. "Despite how much I love this stadium and all its history, I hate the Yankees. I wouldn't make you wear this. I only bought it as memorabilia."

He took off his own Indians cap and replaced it with the new Yankee one he'd just bought, smiling as he placed the Indians hat on my head. "You can wear mine."

Under any other circumstances, I would have complained about how badly my hair had been messed up. In this situation, though, I didn't mind. I happily followed Blaine up to our section with his cap proudly displayed on my head.

"Looks cute on you," Blaine commented as we sat down in our seats (which, for the upped deck, weren't bad - they were right behind home plate, and we had a clear view of the entire field).

I giggled. "Stop it."

"Not until you learn how to take a compliment." Blaine smiled and brushed the back of his hand against my blushing cheek.

"Fine, let's see how _you_ take one," I countered. "You make that horrendous Yankees hat look ridiculously sexy."

"Since when do _you _have an opinion about baseball teams?" Blaine murmured, leaning in so he could kiss me.

"My boyfriend hates the Yankees, and since I don't know any better, I hate them, too," I gasped against his lips.

Blaine smirked as he broke the kiss. "That's not a valid argument."

"Finn hates them too. So does my dad."

He considered this for a few seconds before nodding and kissing me again. "I'll give you that. And by the way, I don't look sexy in this hat. I don't look sexy, ever."

"See?" I giggled. "You can dish it, but you can't take it."

Blaine sighed. "So can we both just accept the fact that we suck at taking compliments, and cuddle for the rest of the game?"

I scooted as close to him as the stupid armrest between our seats would allow, smiling as I settled into his arms. "That's more than okay with me."


	30. Chapter 30

**I forgot how much I love West Side Story until I went to listen to the song I used in this chapter for the first time in forever. I would love, love, LOVE to hear Chris sing this in real life, in the same key as Natalie Wood (well, Marni Nixon, who dubbed her singing in the movie), because those high notes...adofjagljadrfaofjarg. *ahem* Chris, if you're reading this...**

Also, this is pretty much the end of happy fluffy fun times in this story for a while. RIP, Fluff, dona eis requiem. *makes sign of the cross* (Yes, I am Catholic. I come in peace. I actually support gay rights. Not all of us are crazy judgmental homophobes, promise. We always seem to get a bad rap for that).

And I guess there's a little smut in here too, that I wasn't really planning on writing, but it just kind of worked its way in there. Yeah.

Chapter 30

"Please tell me again why you insist on doing this now?"

"Because when we get back from _West Side Story_ tonight, it'll be late. I'm not going to feel like packing. Will you?"

"I don't get why we just can't do it in the morning."

"Our flight leaves at nine, Blaine. We have to be at the airport at seven, which means we have to get up at five."

"It won't take _that _long, will it?"

"Which is why I'm getting it out of the way now. You could help, too, y'know."

To make my point, I picked up one of the other suitcases from the floor and slammed it forcefully down onto the bed, where Blaine was stretched out lazily. He jumped. "God, Kurt, you scared me. What was that for?"

"What do you _think _it was for?" I mumbled, pulling a pile of clothes out of the dresser drawer and stuffing them into the suitcase with more force than was probably necessary.

"I don't get why we just can't relax now," Blaine muttered under his breath.

That was it. "_Relax_?" I practically shouted. "No, Blaine, we need to get this _done_. We'll have plenty of time to relax later. It would be a lot easier if you would fricking _help_ me, maybe. _God_, Blaine, I love you, but..."

I was too annoyed to finish that sentence. I'd been busting my ass all afternoon, trying to get packed for when we left tomorrow, and he'd barely helped at all. As a result, I was only a little more than halfway done, when I knew this process would have been long over had he helped me. I sighed in exasperation and turned on my heel, pacing towards the open balcony door. I needed to get some air.

"But what?" Blaine called warily from back inside the room. I ignored him and pushed the sliding balcony door shut behind me.

The sun was starting to set, casting a gentle orange glow over the city. I knew we'd have to leave for _West Side Story_ soon, but I needed to cool down. I leaned against the railing and stared wistfully out over the intimidatingly tall buildings that surrounded me. I'd never felt so small and insignificant in my life.

I don't know how long I stood there for. I was too annoyed to keep track of time. An hour could have passed, maybe two, which meant we would have been late for the show. I wouldn't have cared.

After I'd been standing out there for quite some time, I heard the balcony door slide open behind me. Blaine. I rolled my eyes and refused to turn around.

"Hey," he said quietly to my back. "I finished packing. Everything's all ready to go for tomorrow morning."

"Oh." I blinked. This I had not expected to hear. I turned around slowly, but other than that, made no move to approach him. "Thank you."

"I kinda feel like a douchebag," Blaine admitted shyly. It seemed like he was having trouble meeting my eyes. "No, just kidding...I _really_ feel like a douchebag."

I leaned back against the railing and folded my arms over my chest. It seemed like there was more he wanted to say, so I waited for him to continue.

"I should have just helped you in the first place, we would have been done a lot faster. I'm...really sorry."

The more he said, the more I could feel my annoyance with him slipping away. I turned away from him but smiled over my shoulder at the same time.

"Oh, Blaine." I shook my head as my knuckles curled lightly over the balcony railing. "You should know by now that I'm a perfectionist."

Blaine stepped closer to me and wrapped his arms gingerly around my waist from behind. His embrace was hesitant, not knowing if I was still mad at him, but when I made no move to pull away, he tightened his arms and leaned his head against the back of my shoulder where I had my scar. That spot still burned a little bit at even the slightest pressure, but I didn't dare make him move. The pain was important. It reminded me of everything we'd been through together.

"This relaxing enough for you?" I asked, turning my head slightly to look at him.

He nodded against my back. "Yes. Way more relaxing than laying on the bed with you throwing suitcases and clothes and stuff everywhere because you're mad at me."

"I wasn't mad. I could never be mad at you," I murmured. "I was just kind of annoyed, is all."

He pressed his lips together into a tight line. "Sorry, again."

"Tell you what," I offered. "I accept your apology. Tonight, when we get back from the show, I'll give you the best relaxation of your life."

Blaine raised one thick eyebrow with intrigue. "Really? And what will that consist of?"

I smiled and turned away from him to gaze back out over the city. "That's for me to think about, and you to find out later."

…

That night, Blaine and I walked deliriously back into the hotel after what had to have been one of the greatest live shows I'd ever seen. Before we could get too far, I pushed him down into a comfortable-looking chair in the lobby in front of a plasma TV that was turned to Sports Center and instructed him to stay right there while I went back and got our room set up.

"But how will I know when you're done getting everything ready?" For someone who had just gotten a full ride to one of the most prestigious performing arts colleges in the country, Blaine could have some...less intelligent moments.

I rolled my eyes and leaned forward to pull his phone out of the front pocket of his jeans, holding it in front of his face with a blank stare.

Blaine took his phone. "Oh."

"I'll call you when everything's ready," I smiled and leaned closer to whisper those words into his ear as my fingers stroked through his curly hair. He'd foregone the gel today, so I could actually do so without messing up his perfect coif. "Just stay right here."

"Okay." Blaine's face slowly grew into a smile as I stood up and gently pulled on a lock of his hair. I sauntered off towards the elevator and glanced back over my shoulder at him as I pressed the button and waited for the doors to open. Blaine was still staring at me. I narrowed my eyes at him until he turned back towards the TV and pretended to be suddenly enthralled in a bunch of talking heads sitting around a table and discussing baseball.

The first thing I did when I got up to the room was start to run the water in the bathroom. The spacious Jacuzzi tub was absolutely perfect; I couldn't believe we hadn't done this yet. While the tub was filling up, I stripped out of the clothes I'd been wearing and slipped on my navy blue silk bathrobe. I couldn't lie, the color looked amazing against my pale skin. Blaine was going to love it. Actually, he was probably going to love it even more when I was _out _of it...

Considering that gave me an idea. I reached beneath the fabric of the robe and wrapped one hand around my soft cock, moaning Blaine's name as I stroked myself to hardness. It couldn't hurt to be prepared.

I don't know if you've ever tried walking around with a boner while wearing nothing but a bathrobe, but it's difficult. The tub was still only about halfway filled, so I dumped a little bit of lavender bubble bath into the warm water and left it to fill up some more. I smiled to myself and sang "Tonight" from _West Side Story_ quietly under my breath as I paced quickly through the room, adjusting all the dimmer switches so that the lighting was _just perfect_.

_Tonight, tonight won't be just any night_

_Tonight there will be no morning star_

_Tonight, tonight, I'll see my love tonight_

_And for us stars will stop where they are..._

I returned to the bathroom only to see that the bathtub had made hardly any progress in filling itself up. I rolled my eyes and squirted more bubble bath into the water, then sat on the edge of the tub and lazily twirled the tie of my robe as I continued quietly singing.

_Today the minutes seem like hours_

_The hours go so slowly, and still the sky is light_

_Oh, moon, grow bright, and make this endless day endless night_

Finally, finally, _finally_, the water in the tub reached a point that would be acceptable for bathing. I turned off the faucet and stood up to adjust the dimmer switch in this room as I pulled my phone out of the pocket of my robe and dialed Blaine.

He picked up before the first ring on the other end of the line had ended, with a breathless, "Hey."

"Hey there." I made sure to use my sexy voice. "Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," he gasped. "Fuck, Kurt, I'm so turned on just from hearing your voice, you have no idea."

"Then come on upstairs," I purred into the receiver, "and you'd better be here soon, because I do _not_ like to be kept waiting."

I smirked and slid my thumb over the End Call button as Blaine began to utter a syllable of response. It was so hard to believe that once upon a time, I'd been too intimidated to flirt with him. Now, I took great pride in the fact that I could make him fall apart in seconds, even over the phone.

I turned off my phone and hurried to place it in the bedroom before Blaine got here. I could only imagine him racing up to the room, horny as fuck, calling breathless "Excuse me"s over his shoulder as he practically knocked over some of our fellow hotel patrons. Giggling to myself, I made my way back to the bathroom and leaned up against the sink as I waited.

I didn't have to wait long. A few seconds after I returned to the bathroom, I heard the front door to our room open.

"Kurt?" Blaine's voice as he called my name had traces of that I'm-really-fucking-horny-right-now-but-I'm-trying-to-hide-it tone.

I didn't say anything, just waited. A few moments passed, and then I heard the sound of his quickly approaching footsteps. He must have smelled the bubble bath or something because in no time at all, he was standing in the bathroom doorway, choking on his breath as he caught sight of me.

"What took you so long?" I stepped away from the sink, away from Blaine, and went to go sit on the edge of the bathtub. "I've been _waiting_ for you."

"I'm sorry," he said, face flushed. He was obviously distracted as I turned sideways and lifted one leg up to rest along the lip of the bathtub. "I got here as soon as I could. I was..."

"You were what?" My fingers flirted playfully with the edge of my robe, pulling it up just a few inches to expose more of my leg. Blaine's face went totally void of expression as he stared at me.

"Are you going to answer me?" More robe pulled up, more leg shown. My eyes never left Blaine's. I was getting damn good at this, to be completely honest with you.

"I was...Jesus, Kurt, I got hard just listening to your sexy voice over the phone." He eyed the bathtub. "This seems very relaxing, by the way."

"Doesn't it?" I stood up from the edge of the tub and slowly untied my robe. "I wanted to make sure you'd _love _it."

Blaine seemed to be losing all coherency as I removed the robe and let it fall to the floor behind me. His hazel eyes went wild with lust as he drank me in; it took all my strength to hold back a smile.

"I love it," he said in a monotone, not even blinking.

"Then join me." I stepped closer to him and pulled his shirt up and off over his head with one fluid motion. It dropped carelessly to the floor beside my robe as I slowly turned, letting him see me at every angle, and stepped into the tub. "Get naked."

Blaine obeyed and was out of the rest of his clothes in no time flat. The second he lowered himself into the bathtub with me, I scooted up behind him and wrapped my legs around his waist. My hard shaft pressed right up against the small of his back, which he didn't seem to mind. He shivered closer to me and closed his eyes as he leaned his head back against my shoulder.

"There," I whispered, massaging his shoulders gently. "And _you_ wanted to relax this afternoon, while I was being all bitchy and throwing stuff into suitcases and yelling at you."

His muscles relaxed noticeably, either from my touch or the fact that I was joking about the tension from earlier today. Maybe both. "Okay. You're obviously not mad about that anymore, I think. If you _are_ mad, this is a really weird way of showing it."

I giggled and pressed a gentle kiss against the nape of his neck. "We've already been through this. I wasn't mad at you."

"If you say so," he sighed. "I just feel bad about not helping. You...you _gave_ me this trip, Kurt. I wouldn't even _be_ here if it weren't for you." He opened his eyes and glanced up at me as my fingers continued kneading his shoulders. "But I'm not going to lie, this bubble bath thing is a really nice way to make up for all that stuff that happened earlier."

"You know what they say...," I murmured enticingly. "'Nothing better than good old-fashioned make up sex.'"

Blaine's face brightened like a little kid who had just gotten ice cream. "Sex?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, Blaine, I just got you naked and seduced you into taking a bubble bath with me for my own health." I laughed and kissed the side of his face. "Yes, sex. When we get out of the tub, I want to make love to you."

Blaine trembled as I continued kissing his skin - down his face, over his jawline, down onto his neck. "Oh, Kurt, baby..._yes_," he sighed. "Make love to me. I _want_ you."

"Mmmm." I sunk my teeth into his neck and marked him with a small hickey.

"You feel so good inside me, baby. I want your cock. I want that fucking huge cock of yours filling me up." Blaine was practically panting with desire as he spoke.

"Think of the mailman...," I murmured against his skin. I _had _to get him into bed. He was about to come any second now; I could tell from the saturation of lust in his voice.

"What?" Blaine turned to look at me, obviously confused.

I shook my head. "Nothing. Just something Finn told me about." I unfolded my legs from around him and stood up to get out of the tub, not even bothering to reach for a towel. "Let's go. I don't want you to come until I'm inside you."

…

"Really...," Blaine rubbed the sleep from his eyes as we stumbled drowsily through JFK airport, "...tired."

"I know, baby." I pulled him into a hug as we reached the security checkpoint and took our places at the end of the line. It was six in the morning, and we hadn't exactly slept last night. "We can sleep on the concourse."

"But then what if we miss them calling us to board?"

"Then we'll stay awake on the concourse, and sleep on the plane."

"Okay." Blaine sounded even more tired than I was, which was understandable. I had to admit, I'd rocked his world pretty hard last night.

"Oh, by the way," he commented as the line slowly moved up and we took a few steps forward. "I called my mom this morning while you were in the shower. She's picking us up at the airport in Columbus, and she was wondering if you would want to come over and spend the day at our place, maybe stay for dinner or something."

"Sure, sounds good." I laughed to myself. "I just realized I've never been over to your house. I've had sex with you how many times now, and I've never been to your house."

Blaine cracked a tired smile. "_I _haven't even been to my house in about three years, so you're not entirely alone in that respect."

I returned his smile. "Y'know, as much as I loved it here, I'm actually kind of happy to be going back to Ohio. I miss it." As I realized what I was saying, I frowned. "I can't believe those words just came out of my mouth."

"I know, right?" Blaine laughed a little bit. "I know how you feel. But you're right. It _does_ feel kinda nice to be going home."

For him, _home_ had two meanings. And neither of us could have expected what was coming our way once we _did _return home, in all senses of the word.


	31. Chapter 31

**You are going to HATE me for how I ended this. Absolutely HATE me. And I understand that, because I concluded on the cliff hanger of all cliff hangers. Just don't freak out too much yet. You don't know what happens next. Only I do...muahahahahaha. :D (And that smiley face is so appropriate considering what happens in this chapter...)**

Chapter 31

Blaine had slept with his head on my shoulder for the entire duration of our flight, and as soon as he woke up, he was nothing but...I don't even know. Maybe it was nerves finally settling in about going back to live with his mom. I couldn't tell. All I knew was that the second we stepped off the plane at Port Columbus International Airport, he'd started acting extremely strange.

"Kurt, I don't know about this," he hissed under his breath as we went to pick our suitcases up from the baggage claim. "What if she's faking it? What if she-"

"Blaine, stop it." I pulled one of the suitcases off of the rotating strip and slammed it to the ground, as if to emphasize my point. "What's the worst she can do?"

"Throw me out again," Blaine mumbled. "And I know that shouldn't get me too upset, because I'm used to living pretty much on my own, but it would be kind of a letdown after all those apologies and stuff-"

I rolled my eyes as I reached out to grab his collar and pulled him right up against me so I could kiss him deeply, distractingly. I didn't even care about the fact that we were no longer in New York, and people here in Ohio were just a tad more conservative. I hated seeing him so distraught; it was the quickest solution I could think of that would comfort him.

"Everything is going to be _fine_." I let his lips go, but reached up to gently press both my hands against either side of his face, forcing him to look me in the eyes. "I promise."

"Promise?" Blaine pressed his lips together into a tight smile as some narrow-minded traveler rudely pushed past us to get to the baggage claim.

"Promise." I leaned down to press my lips against his forehead in one more reassuring kiss before reaching out to grab the last of our suitcases. "Let's go. Your mom said she'd be waiting for us right outside the main doors, right?"

Blaine picked up the handles of two of the suitcases and began wheeling them away from the baggage claim. "Yeah. Can we stop and get something to eat, first? I haven't eaten since before we left the hotel."

"You didn't _eat_." I rolled my eyes. "You had a cup of coffee. Just like every other morning, other than when I made you eat the banana. A cup of coffee."

"I'm not a huge breakfast fan," Blaine countered as we took our place in line at the nearest food court restaurant, which just happened to be selling ice cream. He squinted at the menu for a second. "Oh my god, I can't even remember the last time I had ice cream."

"I offered to buy you some at the baseball game, but you didn't want any," I reminded him. "You were too interested in standing up and singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame with everybody else in the stadium."

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Seventh inning stretch is _tradition._" Blaine grinned as the line moved forward and we stepped up closer to the front. "And I'm not gonna lie, you were getting pretty into it with all your little hand motions and everything."

"I like performing," I grumbled under my breath.

"I never said it wasn't cute." Blaine kissed me on the cheek as the people in front of us finished paying for their ice cream. "You're up. Go ahead."

I shook my head. "No, _you_ pick first. This is my treat."

"Nope. I let you pay for _everything_ in New York, Kurt. I'm treating _you_ this time." The cashier was giving us a funny look, so he stepped up to the counter to order. "Can I get a small vanilla cone and a medium dipped chocolate double scoop?"

I couldn't help flashing him an amazed smile. "You know my ice cream order?"

"Of course I do." Blaine let his eyes flicker over to me in a knowing glance as he handed the cashier an entire ten dollar bill and instructed her to keep the change. "It's not too hard to forget. I still need to wean you off of plain vanilla."

"Vanilla is delicious, and it won't go to my thighs as much as those other flavors that are loaded with all that crap. It's win-win." As we walked away from the ice cream store, I pointedly licked the top of my scoop and glanced at the cone Blaine held. It was at least twice the size of mine, with two scoops of chocolate ice cream topped by what looked like that Magic Shell stuff. My head hurt just thinking about how many calories that thing must have contained.

Blaine stared at me. "Kurt, you have the most perfect body of anybody I know, and you're worried about it going to your thighs?" He shoved his cone right in front of my face. "Just try it."

"No," I insisted, although it looked absolutely delicious when it was right under my nose like that.

Blaine said nothing, just held the ice cream right there and stared me down before I sighed and grabbed the cone, chomping a huge bite off of the top scoop.

"Hey!" he protested jokingly. "Kidding. How is it?"

"Oh, my god," I mumbled with my mouth still full, immediately taking another bite. "Where have you been all my life?"

"Right here at the airport ice cream place," Blaine deadpanned.

I shoved the cone back into his hand. "I'm so sorry. If I hold onto that any longer, I can and will eat the entire thing."

"And you would still be the hottest boy I know, calories be damned." Blaine looped an arm around my waist, pulling me close so he could kiss the side of my blushing face before reaching for the suitcases again, somehow managing to wheel two with his free hand. "C'mon, we should probably get going. I still haven't exactly properly introduced you to my mom."

…

I stared at the plate in front of me, which consisted of a mountain of white rice, a pile of some strange-looking green stuff, two slices of thick pink something, and a little pile of pale fleshy...things.

"Blaine." I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Lisa had left the dining room. She had. "I don't mean to be rude, but how am I supposed to eat this?"

"Like normal food." He shrugged and picked up one of the pink somethings, dipping it in the green stuff before taking a bite. "Salmon sushi's my favorite. It looks absolutely disgusting but it's really good, I promise."

I shrugged. Lisa, in the short time we'd been here, had been almost overly apologetic to Blaine. She'd even remembered his favorite food and had ordered it special from that expensive sushi place a couple blocks away. That was nice, I had to admit, but as I stared down at the food on my plate, I couldn't imagine, you know, actually digesting it.

"Boys?" Lisa re-entered the dining room from the kitchen, carrying her own plate of sushi. "Oh, you guys don't have to eat in here. Go watch a movie, sit on the couch, relax. You've had a long day with being on the plane."

Blaine pushed his chair back and picked up his plate. "Thanks, Mom," he called back as he made his way out into the living room. "Kurt, you pick. Any movie." He gestured to the top shelf of the entertainment center, which contained a wide selection of DVDs.

I perused the selection for a second before my gaze landed on something I knew and loved. "Oh my god, yes," I murmured as I pulled the case off the shelf. "Call me a dork, but I love _The Wizard of Oz_."

"You are not a dork." Blaine set his plate down as he took the case from me and inserted the disc into the DVD player. "You just have extremely good taste in movies."

He joined me on the couch as the opening credits began to roll and polished off the rest of his sushi before they were finished. It took me until the first appearance of Miss Gulch before I finally was able to pick up one of the pink pieces, dip a tiny corner of it into the green stuff (which was apparently called wasabi, as Blaine politely reminded me) and take a bite.

I chewed thoughtfully. Spicy, but surprisingly good. I covered the rest of the piece in more wasabi and popped the entire thing into my mouth.

"Told you so." Blaine grinned triumphantly as he pulled me closer to him.

"Shut up." My mouth was still full, but I didn't care.

I finished the rest of the sushi in no time, and lost myself somewhere between Blaine's arms and Munchkinland. This felt nice. We were home, we didn't have to worry about itineraries or airports or any of the other various stressful components that accompany traveling. Everything was perfect in our little world. It was all so-

"Did you hear that?" Lisa's wary voice called from the kitchen. I hadn't heard anything. Blaine immediately reached for the remote and paused Dorothy and the Scarecrow skipping arm-in-arm down the Yellow Brick Road.

"Hear what?" Blaine obviously hadn't heard anything, either. "What was it?"

"The door...," Lisa stepped out into the foyer. "It sounds like somebody's trying to get in..."

She stood on her tiptoes and attempted to look through the peephole, but was almost crushed flat against the wall behind her when the door flew open. Blaine's face was immediately paralyzed with fear when he saw who our visitor was.

"Bill?" Lisa stepped out from behind the door, protectively rubbing her baby bump. "Excuse me if I ask what the _hell_ you are doing here?"

"Car trouble," Blaine's father explained, pushing her out of the way as he stepped into the house. "Headlight's screwed up. Need the owner's manual, I think I left it in the basement."

"How many times did I tell you to _keep it in the goddamn glove box_?" Lisa was obviously not pleased at her ex-husband's unannounced arrival. Bill ignored her and stepped completely into our line of sight, and it didn't take long to realize that he wasn't pleased, either.

"What's the fag doing here?" He was eyeing Blaine with all the scrutiny and disapproval in the world. "You let him come back?"

"Yes, I did. Blaine is our son, Bill, whether you choose to accept that or not. What we did was wrong. He lives here now."

Bill ignored her, letting his beady-eyed gaze wander over to me. "And you," he sneered. "The other fag."

I stood up and politely extended my hand, not expecting him to shake it. "I prefer Kurt, actually."

He shoved me out of the way, just as he'd done with his pregnant ex-wife, and glared down at Blaine, still sitting on the couch. Fortunately, he didn't have time to get a single word out before Blaine jumped up.

"_Stop_ it _right_ now," he hissed, stepping protectively in front of me. "Don't you _dare_ touch him."

"Or else what?" Bill reached out and grabbed his son's collar, lifting Blaine up in the air to his eye level. "You're not my son anymore. I think we established that. Why your mother decided to give you a 'second chance,' I don't know. You don't deserve that. You're just a disgusting little faggot, just like him." He glanced over at me before turning back to Blaine, who looked like he was struggling to escape from his father's chokehold on his collar.

"You think you can tell me what to do? You think I'm _scared _of you? I'm not. I ain't _scared_ of no _pussy_."

"Okay, you listen to _me_, 'Dad.'" Blaine spat the word in Bill's face. "Do it. Go ahead and beat me til I'm black and blue. I don't give a fuck. Beat me until I can't even move. But you lay one hand on Kurt and I _swear_ to God it will be the last thing you ever do."

His voice was soft, on the verge of tears, but somehow the words still rang out strongly. My heart was beating erratically in my chest. Blaine had pretty much just threatened to kill his own father. For me. _Me_. There was something so wrong and yet so right about that at the same time.

"Blaine. Don't." My voice was a broken whisper.

"You know I would do anything for you, Kurt. You _know_ that." Blaine's eyes, obviously filled with tears at this point, were penetrating my soul.

Bill looked him over, scrutinizing him some more. "Since you're pretty much asking for it..."

And in the next instant, his fist had connected with the side of Blaine's jaw, knocking him out of Bill's hands and down to the floor. Lisa screamed. I instinctively moved closer to her and pulled her into a hug as we watched, helpless.

"You think you have a right to live here?" Bill shouted as he kicked Blaine, who was already doubled over on the ground, square in the teeth. "With...with my _wife_, who I had to leave because she wanted to let her faggot son live here."

"Kurt, I'm calling the police," Lisa murmured as she pulled her cell phone out of the pocket of her jeans and dialing 911 with shaky fingers. She turned away, and I saw this as my chance.

"What is _wrong_ with you?" I lunged for Bill, who was about three times my size (Blaine had inherited his diminutive stature from Lisa, apparently) and attempted to pull him away from Blaine. It was unsuccessful, but worth a try.

"What's _wrong_ with me?" Bill roared. He reached out and grabbed a framed photo off of one of the end tables by the couch. "The fact that...that faggots like _him_ and _you_ drove me out of my home! That's what's wrong with me!"

I caught a fleeting glimpse of the photo before Bill hurled the entire frame across the room. A smiling couple, younger versions of Bill and Lisa, were sitting outside with bright sunshine behind them. Bill's arms were around Lisa, who was holding a smiling toddler with curly hair in her lap. Little Blaine.

In the next instant, the frame had left Bill's hand and was shattered in pieces on the other side of the room. Shattered glass flew everywhere. Lisa's voice began to mumble more worried incoherencies to the poor 911 operator on the other end of the line.

"I'm _done_ with everyone thinking that people like _you_ deserve a place in this world. A nice home, like this, while I have to leave and live in a fucking _hotel_." Bill reached for Blaine and pinned him up against the wall. "What you and him are...that's _wrong_. And I hate you for it. I wouldn't have had to leave here if it wasn't for _you_."

"Nobody said you _had_ to leave," Blaine countered. "Mom wanted me to come back. She tried to talk some sense into you. You made the decision to leave rather than stay here and maybe learn some tolerance."

"Okay, that's _it_." Bill's words flew like venom into Blaine's face as he held him against the wall with one hand and reached into the inside of his jacket with the other. "Luckily, I came prepared."

Three faces paled when we saw the black pistol that Bill had extracted from his coat. Mine, Lisa's, and Blaine's.

"Now you two don't fucking move, otherwise he dies for sure, and so do both of you," he threatened Lisa and I, who had moved into another protective embrace without even realizing it. "He gets one more chance."

He pressed the barrel of the gun to Blaine's forehead. I could see the sweat and tears coating Blaine's face from across the room.

"Now," Bill commanded. "I'll let you live if you promise to get some help for your _disease_, and break up with your homo boyfriend over there. Otherwise..."

Bill didn't feel the need to finish that sentence.

Blaine's eyes were wild with fear and protest and millions of other emotions, but they landed directly on my gaze. "No," he insisted. "I _love_ Kurt. I love him more than anything in the world. And if I die for him here tonight, so be it."

Bill smiled coldly. "Are you sure about that?"

Blaine's head, trembling along with the rest of his body, somehow managed to nod. He closed his eyes and his lips parted just the slightest bit.

"Blaine," I whispered through the tears that were cascading down my face. "I love you so fucking much."

Lisa clutched me closer to her, both of use wide-eyed with horror as we watched the boy we both loved take his last few breaths. Blaine had often said he'd die for me. I never dreamed we'd be in this situation, about to actually experience it.

Lisa's baby bump was pressed right up against my arm. From inside, I could feel Blaine's little baby brother or sister kick.

Bill stole one more glance back at us before returning his attention to Blaine and pulling the trigger.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Nothing happened.

Bill pulled the gun away from Blaine's forehead, eliciting a sigh of broken relief from his son. Over the course of the next few seconds or so, too many things happened at once. When I look back on that moment, I still don't know how every single occurrence managed to fit into that tiny time frame. All I know is that for me, that moment and everything that happened in it seemed to go by in slow motion.

"That's fucking weird," Bill commented as he ejected the bullet cartridge from the gun. "It's loaded..."

I stood up from the floor and slipped out of Lisa's protective embrace. All of a sudden I knew what I had to do, but I didn't have much time in which to do it.

Blaine saw what I was doing and his eyes went wider than they had when his father first pulled the gun out of his jacket. I for one was just happy Bill had his back to me and couldn't see me racing quietly across the room towards them, like I was running for my own life instead of Blaine's.

Still holding the loaded bullet cartridge, Bill squinted at the rest of the gun. "Oh. Safety's on. That explains why you're not dead yet." He glared at Blaine.

A million thoughts raced through my brain in the fraction of a nanosecond that it took me to lift my foot up onto the couch, poised to jump over it.

_You idiot, the guy has a loaded gun. You could die._

_-Yeah, but the bullets aren't inside. He's still holding the cartridge in his other hand._

_Still. __You__. __Could__. __Die__. I don't think you've grasped that little idea yet._

_-Shut up, okay? Blaine almost died for __me__ a few seconds ago. You of all people should understand that._

_I do. Okay, just do it. You're short. You can be quick about it, and he probably won't notice you at all._

_-Okay. You got this, Kurt_.

I leaped up onto the couch and jumped over the back of it just as Blaine yelled "Kurt, the _fuck_?" with a horrified expression clouding his face. Bill, who had just slid the cartridge back into the gun but hadn't clicked it into place yet (or turned the safety off, for that matter), turned around just in time for me to jump onto his back from behind and slap the gun right out of his hand. It skidded across the hardwood floor as Bill fell to his hands and knees under the sudden pressure of my weight knocking him down.

_Dear Grilled Cheesus, thank you for making me cute, quick and little. Amen_.

"Get the hell off of me," Bill growled. His face was red and twisted with so much rage that I couldn't believe he wasn't trying to rip my head off right then and there.

I did as he asked and climbed off his back. Bill stayed put for a few seconds, wincing in pain and mumbling something about back problems, while I sauntered over to pick up the gun off the floor.

No, I wasn't planning on using it. I didn't think I'd have to use it. Bill obviously wasn't too stupid, because he glanced up at me as I clicked the bullet cartridge back into place and a look that could only be described as fear overtook his face.

"Now I may be a _fag_...," the word tasted bitter in my mouth, so I spat it out, "but I have a gun and you don't." I smiled over towards Blaine, who was so frozen in place that he could have passed for a Madame Tussuad wax statue of himself, and let my smile grow into a smirk as I returned my attention to Bill. "I wouldn't go _near_ Blaine if I were you."

Fortunately for him, Bill didn't have to worry about the possibility of what I would do to him if he were to approach Blaine. The second after I'd finished speaking, the front door flew open and four or five police officers trampled in, guns ready.

"This him?" One of the officers nodded at Bill, still kneeling on the floor, looking helpless.

"That's him," I confirmed with a nod of my own, handing the gun to the officer who had spoken. Maybe they could use it as evidence or something. I don't know.

Another officer stepped forward and cuffed Blaine's father, rambling off the Miranda rights as he did so. Lisa glanced over towards me. "Kurt, call your parents. They need to know what's going on."

That didn't seem like a bad idea. I stepped out of the living room and went out into the kitchen, where a tray containing a few pieces of salmon sushi still sat untouched on the counter. Hands clammy and trembling, I pulled my phone out of the pocket of my skinny True Religions and let my fingers fumble over the digits to my home number.

A sleepy-sounding Finn picked up on the other end. "Hullo?"

"Finn. It's Kurt. Where's Dad?"

"I know it's you, dude, I can read a caller ID."

"That's great. Congratulations. _Where. Is. Dad_."

Finn yawned into the phone. "Downstairs watching the Indians game, but I think he fell asleep on the couch."

"Wake him up."

"Dude, you know how he gets when you wa-"

"Wake. Him. Up. Finn." My stepbrother always seemed to drag me to the end of my rope.

"Okay, but he's gonna be pi-"

"If it makes it any easier, Finn, Blaine just almost died."

That seemed to wake him up. "_What_?"

"His homophobic, Neanderthal-esque estranged father just came to his house. Long story short, he had Blaine pinned against a wall and a gun pressed against his head but I kind of saved his life," I explained, the words tumbling out of my mouth as I rushed frantically to say them.

"Dude." Finn sounded impressed. "You saved his life."

I froze. Sure, I had just said those words myself a few seconds ago, but they had come out of my mouth too quickly for me to realize what I'd said. But hearing Finn say them made me realize that it was absolutely true.

I saved Blaine's life.

"Finn, if you don't put Dad on the phone _right now_, I will gladly run over your Black Ops disc in the driveway."

"Okay, okay, hold on!" From the other end of the line, I could hear Finn throwing the covers off his bed and padding downstairs to the living room. His voice was muffled as he explained to my dad something about Blaine and a gun, and that was all it took for Daddy Dearest to snatch the phone out of Finn's hand and press it to his own ear.

"Kurt, you better tell me what the hell's going on."

I quickly recapped for him everything that had gone down that night ever since Bill had first barged through the front door. My dad interjected every so often with a short deluge of curse words, but other than that, seemed to be listening intently. When I stopped talking, he was silent for a few seconds before responding.

"I'm coming over. Where does this kid live again?"

I gave him Blaine's address. "Just be careful when you park." I squinted out the window at the front yard. "There's two cop cars out there, and you're not the best at parallel parking. The last thing we need right now is another ticket because you parked on the wrong side of the street again." For someone who knew a lot about cars and how to fix them, my father was a surprisingly terrible driver.

"I know, I know." My dad sighed, then there was another short silence before he spoke again.

"Look, I may not always be the best at showing it, but I love you, Kurt. I love you so goddamn much. I hope you know that."

I nodded, then realized he couldn't see me through the phone. My voice was weak as I responded. "Yeah."

"And I hope karma comes back around to bite this sonofabitch in the ass after what he did to you guys tonight. Nobody tries to hurt Burt Hummel's little boy and gets away with it."

At the words "little boy," my mind immediately flashed back to the conversation I'd overheard between Blaine and my father the morning we left for New York. In all honesty, I was still surprised my dad had ended up being cool with the whole sex thing and hadn't had Blaine's penis chopped off. Things had seemed so normal back then. It had only been a few days since that conversation had taken place, and already my entire world had been turned upside down once again.

"I'm not a little boy anymore," I whispered into the phone.

"I know you're not. You're a young man now. But I still look at you and see the little four-year-old who skipped around the house in his mother's heels."

I closed my eyes. "Can you please just come over?" I whispered. "I-I need my dad."

Another pause. "Sure, Kurt," my dad said quietly. "I'll be right there."

I hung up the phone and slipped it back into my pocket as I leaned back against the counter and let my eyes drift closed again. My head fell back in suppressed agony and the tears I'd been holding back finally started to streak down my face, one at a time.

"Kurt?" Lisa's quiet voice came from the kitchen doorway. "Sweetheart, the police need to get a statement from you."

I stood up away from the counter and followed her deliriously out into the living room. Not much had changed since I'd gone out to the kitchen. Bill was gone, along with two of the police officers. The glass from the broken picture frame still lay shattered on the floor. Blaine was sitting on the couch, curled up into a little trembling ball.

It didn't take too long for the police to record my version of what had gone down. The officer I spoke to didn't ask too many questions, just listened, scribbled on his notepad, and nodded every so often as I rattled off my story. Finally he thanked me and turned to speak to the other officer who was still here. I took this as a cue that it was okay to walk away, so I immediately turned around and walked back across the room towards the couch where Blaine sat.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Kurt. Oh my god," Blaine was mumbling nonsensically as I sat beside him and pulled him into my arms. His entire body was literally trembling; I tightened my arms around him and pulled him as close to me as physically possible.

"Shhh," I whispered, gently stroking his forehead. "I got you. You're safe now. He's gone."

"Oh my god," he whispered again, then looked up at me with wide eyes. "Kurt. You saved my life."

I kissed his curly hair. "I wasn't just going to stand there and watch you die."

"Yeah, but...," his thick eyebrows furrowed as he squinted in thought. "What if he'd reloaded the gun just a second faster? He could have turned around and...and..._you _could have..."

Blaine was shaking too much to finish that sentence.

"Let's not play the 'what if?' game," I suggested. "We're both here, aren't we?"

Blaine nodded against my chest and smiled weakly. "Yeah, you have a point. Hey, where'd my mom go?"

Good question. I hadn't seen her since she'd come into the kitchen. I glanced up and noticed Lisa near the front door, talking to one of the policemen. She looked over towards us and smiled upon seeing Blaine in my arms. Blaine had her smile.

"Haven't I always said I'd do anything for you?" I asked after making sure he'd seen Lisa.

Blaine considered this for a second. "Yeah, I guess...I never really thought that would include knocking a loaded gun out of my father's - who was about to murder me, literally, by the way - hand."

"I never thought we'd be in this situation," I admitted. "Still, I would have done it all over again if, God forbid, we had to repeat this."

Blaine was quiet for a few seconds after I spoke. Finally, he looked up at me with his hazel eyes even wider than before, if that were possible.

"Thank you..."

I gave him a quick but passionate kiss on the lips. "Anytime."

He smiled the tiniest bit while snuggling his head against my chest. "So is your dad coming?"

"I'm already here." My dad, who had always had sensitive hearing, announced his presence as he walked through the front door. He turned to Lisa. "Burt Hummel. I know this is a terrible time for introductions."

Lisa shook his hand. "I'm Lisa Anderson. Nice to meet you...the boys are right inside."

"Oh," my dad breathed as he paced quickly into the living room and noticed Blaine and I sitting on the couch. I stood up and walked towards him to meet him halfway. "_Kurt_."

He reached out and pulled me into the tightest, most bone-crushing hug of my life. "I'm so glad you guys are okay. You _are_ okay, aren't you?"

I nodded against my dad's shoulder. "Yeah. I'm fine. A little shaken, but fine."

My dad glanced over at the couch towards Blaine, who gave him a trembling little wave. "How's he?"

"He's..._very_ shaken." Literally. He was still shaking.

My dad pursed his lips and nodded. "I can imagine. Poor kid just had a gun being held to his head." I cringed at the memory, and his face softened. "Sorry."

"It's okay," I whispered weakly. "It's over now, isn't it?"

He pulled me into an even tighter hug and patted my back reassuringly. "Yeah. It's over, and everyone's okay, thanks in part to _you_." He pulled back a little bit so he could look me in the eyes as he said the words that chilled me to the bone - in a good way.

"You saved that boy's life tonight, Kurt."

…

"Kurt, I don't want to go to sleep."

Blaine shivered closer to me under the thick layers of blankets that topped his bed. My dad and Lisa were still downstairs, drinking coffee and talking about everything that had happened tonight and how they were going to handle it. Neither of them had been opposed to the idea that I spend the night here with Blaine - in fact, they'd actually encouraged it.

"You have to go to sleep." I glanced at the glowing red numbers on the digital clock near his bed. "It's almost three in the morning."

"I know, but I'm scared. I don't want any more nightmares, like what happened after the whole getting-attacked-at-the-movies thing," he whispered, clutching with fists at the fabric on the front of my shirt.

"I'm right here with you. You're safe," I reminded him, gently massaging my hands in slow circles over his back. "I won't let anything happen to you."

"I trust you," he whispered. Then: "Kurt?"

"Yes, Blaine?"

"What did we do wrong that makes people like my dad hate us?"

Such a simple question, and yet so deep at the same time. I only wished I had an acceptable response.

"I don't know," I admitted. "We're just two people who are deeply in love with each other. We never hurt anybody. We're innocent. I guess some people find that offensive."

"Oh," he murmured, and there was a short silence before he spoke again.

"Can you sing to me?"

I frowned in the darkness. He wanted me to _sing_ to him? My voice was nowhere near warmed up. It would sound terrible. But I didn't want to refuse him, so I said, "Sure. But...how come?"

"I don't know." I felt him shrug a little bit. "I guess it would just help me sleep better. Like a lullaby or something." He snuggled even closer to me. "Please?"

He smiled the cutest, dreamiest, littlest, boyish smile up at me. How was I supposed to refuse that?

"Okay. What do you want me to sing?"

"Anything. You pick."

Great. This would be hard to narrow down. There were so many things I wanted to say to him...but most of all I wanted to comfort him. Make him feel safe. That was what was important right now.

...wait, that wasn't so hard. I had the perfect song. In fact, we'd just seen the show it was from last night. _Last night_. Oh my Gaga. A little over twenty-four hours ago, we'd been at _West Side Story_. It seemed like years ago.

I pushed those thoughts from my head, took a deep breath, and began to quietly sing.

_There's a place for us_

_Somewhere a place for us_

_Peace and quiet and open air_

_Wait for us somewhere_

"_West Side Story_," Blaine whispered in amazement, smiling up at me. I nodded and gave him a tiny smile in response before continuing.

_There's a time for us_

_Someday a time for us_

_Time together with time to spare_

_Time to look, time to care_

Blaine closed his eyes and let a peaceful smile spread across his face. I kept my eyes locked on his face as I crescendoed into the most powerful part of the song.

_Someday, somewhere_

_We'll find a new way of living_

_We'll find a way of forgiving_

_Somewhere_

He opened his eyes, but they were soft and serene. He didn't look scared anymore.

_There's a place for us_

_A time and place for us_

_Hold my hand and we're halfway there_

_Hold my hand and I'll take you there_

_Somehow, someday, somewhere_...

I looked at him expectantly as I finished, waiting for his reaction, which ended up being a kiss and a whispered, "Thank you."

"Anytime," I murmured, kissing him again. As we broke away, I looked him into his eyes - his beautiful, beautiful eyes - and suddenly it hit me.

I'd come just seconds away from losing him forever.

I pulled him closer to me and kissed him again, trying to say with my lips what I couldn't put into words. Like how much he meant to me, and how thankful I was that I still had him here with me, safe in my arms. Like how amazing I thought he was, and how much it broke my heart that his own father couldn't even see that. Like how much I loved him.

When we broke apart, both of us were crying.

"Kurt, oh, Kurt," Blaine sobbed against my chest, his tears staining the front of my shirt. "I shouldn't be _alive_."

I winced and clutched him closer to me. "Don't say that."

"But...it's true. You have to admit," he continued as I leaned down and began gently kissing his tears away, "I would probably be in a morgue somewhere with a fatal gunshot wound to my head, being pronounced dead by some coroner if it weren't for you."

I squeezed my eyes shut. "Please stop talking about you possibly being dead."

"Sorry," he murmured. "But in case I haven't already said it five million times - which I probably have - thank you _so_ much, Kurt. I literally owe you my life."

"Don't even worry about that," I said reassuringly, kissing his forehead. "You just focus on trying to get some sleep. You've gotta be exhausted, I know I am."

Blaine yawned. "Yeah, you're right." He turned around so he was spooning against me. "Night, Kurt. I love you so, so, so much."

"I love you so, so, so much, too." I smiled as I planted a gentle kiss to the side of his neck.

He turned his head just slightly to look at me. "You promise you won't go anywhere? I need someone to snuggle with if I wake up from a nightmare."

"I promise," I murmured, pulling him closer to emphasize my point. "I'm right here. I always will be."

* * *

**I knew if I typed anything like this at the beginning, nobody would have read it. I appreciate the fact that no angry mobs came to my house with pitchforks and torches.**

I was never planning on killing Blaine, fyi. But this whole crazy homophobic stuff does have a point that will come into play later on. There's a method to my madness, promise.

**Now go relax, have sweet Klainealicious dreams, and listen to Chris & Darren's duet of Animal over and over for the rest of your life (or at least until Tuesday). **


	33. Chapter 33

**Oh my god hi. I have been so crazy busy this past week so I apologize for the lack of updates. And now it's technically 2 in the morning (even though my laptop still says 1) and I'm up writing. (I. hate. time. change. I. hate. time. change. I. HATE. time. change.)**

I started a few little side projects during my minimal free time over the last few days. One of them is a oneshot smutty collab thingy that I'm writing with one of my Twitter friends, it involves Blaine actually _showing_ Kurt what sex is all about. :D And she's working on the very last part right now, so that will probably be up sometime in the next few days. I also started another oneshot, it's one of those longer ones, that I've been working on a little bit here and there. No idea when that will be done, just kinda wanted to throw this out there :)

I think a little chat about Glee this past week is necessary. Loved Animal. Loved Blaine helping Kurt be sexy. Loved Emma's misinterpretation of Afternoon Delight. Loved Brittany and Santana singing Landslide. Loved Burt AKA Father of the Year. Will never be able to hear or see the word "toast" ever again without picturing Kurt reading gay sex pamphlets. Loved everything. So excited for Regionals.

This here is a lot angstier (I just made that word up) than I was planning, but it kind of wrote itself. 

Chapter 33

"I feel like waking them up would just be mean. Look at them. All that shit - pardon my language - that went down last night, and they just look so _peaceful_, y'know?"

My eyes were still closed, but I had heard Lisa and my dad - who had spent the night on the couch in the Andersons' living room - come into Blaine's room to wake us up. I'd always been good at pretending to be asleep. Still, I couldn't help noticing that my dad's voice sounded strained, like it always did when he was upset.

"They love each other so much," Lisa observed quietly. "I just wish my asshole of an ex-husband would realize that."

Blaine snuggled closer against me. Trying to make the movement look as unconscious as possible, I tightened my arms around him.

Lisa sighed. "I wish I could just let them sleep. Let them be at peace for once. But Blaine needs to get up...one of the officers who came last night wants to talk to us down at the police station."

"Yeah, and Kurt and I should probably get out of your hair. Listen, thanks so much again, Lisa. I really appreciate you letting us stay here, and I know Kurt does, too."

"Anytime." Lisa's voice had the slight tone of a smile in it. "And...tell Kurt I said thank you, too. He makes my son so happy...and he saved his _life_. I'm so glad the two of them found each other."

"You're welcome," I mumbled audibly, keeping my eyes closed.

"Kurt?" my dad asked, now that he knew I was awake. "Come on, buddy, get up. We need to let Lisa and Blaine take care of some things down at the police station. How'd you sleep?"

"I didn't," I admitted, gently moving Blaine aside so I could sit up and rub the tiredness out of my sleep-deprived eyes.

"Oh, good, neither did I," Blaine chimed in, slowly forcing his eyes open. "Way too much on my mind. So Mom, we're going to the police station?"

He was rambling a little bit, and his voice had a kind of slur to it, like usual when he was tired. He blinked and stared up at the ceiling, but didn't sit up.

"Yes. Your...f-_father_-," it took great effort for her to spit that word out, "is being charged with assault with a deadly weapon. They just want to ask us some questions about what our life was like with him when we all lived together. It'll be pretty easy, all we have to do is tell the truth."

"Always in police stations, always answering questions about why people want to hurt me," Blaine murmured sleepily, his voice tinged with sadness. "Second time in four months. Do normal guys have to go through this?"

Yes, I realized he was delirious from exhaustion. But something really bothered me about the way he said _normal guys_.

As if we weren't quote-unquote "normal."

…

"Kurt, come on, we have to go!" my dad's exasperated voice called from downstairs, echoing in the hallway outside Blaine's room, where Blaine and I now stood. "And so do they, for that matter."

"Be right down!" I yelled back, then returned my attention to Blaine. I couldn't shake this any longer. It had been eating away at my brain all through our short breakfast and while I was getting dressed and ready for the day. I couldn't _not_ bring it up.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Blaine yawned involuntarily.

And of course I hadn't actually planned out how I was going to say this.

"It's just...that comment you made this morning," I stammered. "_Normal guys_, Blaine? Since when are guys like us not normal?"

"I don't know," Blaine sighed. "It just got me thinking. Everything that's happened to us over the past few months. It makes me wonder if this whole gay thing is worth it, y'know?"

I couldn't even believe what I was hearing. Here was my _hero_, the one person I'd admired ever since the moment I'd first met him, the one who had always seemed so proud of who he was...basically telling me that he didn't think what the two of us were was normal. My heart plummeted straight to the floor and I could feel tears in my eyes as I blinked. This was not happening. This _could not be happening_.

"_Worth it_?" I said through gritted teeth, trying very hard to keep my voice quiet. "Think, Blaine, and try to remember a point in your life when you weren't attracted to boys. Can you remember that? No. You can't. Neither can I. This isn't something we _chose_, Blaine. Screw the homophobes and what they think. For us, _this_ is normal."

"I wish 'normal' didn't involve people being so hateful towards us all the time," Blaine grumbled.

"Are you _kidding_ me right now, Blaine?" I was practically shouting, but I didn't care. "What _happened_ to you? You used to be the strongest person I knew in terms of your sexuality. You didn't give a damn what anybody else thought, and now it's 'not normal'? You can't let a little thing like this change who you are. Who you've always been. You can't."

"Kurt! Come _on_!" My dad had less than zero patience.

"This 'little thing' involved my own father holding a gun to my head and pulling the trigger," Blaine said quietly - a sharp contrast to my voice. He was barely meeting my eyes anymore. "I'm sorry, Kurt, but I can't help feeling like there's something wrong with me. And I'm really upset that you seem to find the events of last night so irrelevant."

"I'm sorry, okay?" I couldn't keep the annoyed edge out of my voice now. "Yeah. Okay. What your dad did is a pretty big deal. But we _are_ normal, Blaine, whether you choose to believe it or not."

"Yeah, try telling that to the next asshole who threatens our lives," Blaine mumbled with a roll of his eyes.

My dad called up to me again, sounding extremely annoyed at this point. "Kurt _Hummel_!"

Blaine returned his attention to me. "Look, Kurt, you know I love you, but I lost an entire night's worth of sleep thinking about this. I don't want to keep living my life in fear. I want to be able to walk down the street holding hands with you and not have people make snide comments about us. I can't help but feel like there's something wrong with me when stuff like that happens. I just want to feel...normal."

That was it. That was the last straw. "_Would you stop with the __normal__?_"

Blaine was silent for a long time and refused to meet my eyes. It broke my heart that things had to be like this between us, but it broke my heart even more that he seemed to be ashamed of who he was.

"Right now, I can't," he said quietly after a while. "To me, being treated this way _isn't_ normal."

"I'm sorry the world isn't perfect. I'm sorry that not everybody is all, 'Yay, gay boys! Let's be accepting of them!' This is _real life_, Blaine, you have to understand that."

"Maybe I'm sick of real life," Blaine mumbled. "Look, I need some time to think about this. I think maybe...we should take a break for a couple days."

That surprisingly didn't sound like a bad idea. He needed time to cool off and let things settle; he was obviously still worked up about what had happened last night. Maybe leaving him alone to think for a few days wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Fine." I turned away from him and began making my way back downstairs before my dad got any more annoyed at me for not coming. "Just let me know when you make up your mind."

I headed down the stairs in silence, leaving him behind.

…

My dad gestured to the uneaten plate of fettuccine alfredo that I was poking at with my fork. "Eat. Aren't you hungry?"

"No." My voice was cold. I probably could have been a little more open with my dad, considering that the sole reason in his taking me out to lunch here at Breadstix was to get me to talk, but I didn't really feel like saying anything.

"Please talk to me, Kurt. It's not like you to keep everything bottled up like this. What's wrong?"

"Blaine." I absentmindedly twirled a noodle around my fork.

"What about Blaine? I thought, y'know, everything was really good between the two of you." My dad, bless his heart, was still struggling with the whole talking-about-feelings concept.

"He thinks...we...aren't normal," I said quietly, still staring at my untouched food, "because of all the stuff we've been through since Christmas break. Did you catch the comment he made this morning? About how 'normal guys don't have to go through this' or whatever?"

My dad nodded as he took a bite out of one of Breadstix's processed, once-frozen breadsticks. "That...really upset me. And he thinks there's something wrong with him because of the way people treat us."

"Well...," my dad wiped his fingers on a napkin and tossed it onto the table beside his empty plate. "Did you try telling him there _isn't_ anything wrong with him?"

Pardon the cliché, but the realization hit me like a ton of bricks. "I...I didn't, actually."

"What did you tell him?"

"I don't remember," I said softly. "Probably just kind of yelled at him. I was annoyed."

"Oh, okay. That's gotta do wonders for the kid's self-esteem," my dad cracked sarcastically. "Here he is, feeling so abnormal, like there's something wrong with him, and the person he loves can't even tell him there's absolutely _nothing_ wrong with him."

I finally forced myself to look him in the eyes. "Oh, my god," I whispered. "This is all my fault."

"Nothing's your fault. Both of you are just upset about what happened last night, and you're taking it out on each other. That's all. Nothing's nobody's fault."

"That was terrible grammar, Dad," I pointed out, but managed a weak smile.

His expression softened. "You're a good kid, Kurt. Blaine, too. I know you two will figure things out after you both cool down."

"Thanks." For the first time all afternoon, I felt some slight twinge of hope.

He nodded to my plate. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah. I kinda just want to get home, I miss my own house."

Our waitress happened to be passing by, so my dad flagged her down and gestured to my untouched pasta. "Can I get a box for this, please?"

She told us she'd be right back with a box and the check, so my dad thanked her before turning back to me.

"So I never really got the chance to ask you. How was New York?"


	34. Chapter 34

**I just had a picture of the Klaine kiss open on my laptop a second ago, and my cat came up and started nuzzling the screen. Kitty knows what's up.**

Okay. The kiss. We need to have a little chat about the amazingness of it all. Actually, about the amazingness of the whole Original Songs episode.

First of all, the original songs...awesome. I particularly enjoyed Trouty Mouth and Big-ass Heart.

But the ones they actually used at the competition were fantastic. I loved them both, but I think Loser Like Me was my favorite.

I have a love/hate relationship with Rachel. I loved her in this one.

On the contrary, I usually like Quinn, but in this one I thought she was kind of a bitch.

Sue Sylvester is hilarious. I love everything Jane Lynch chooses to be.

The Warblers ship Klaine.

Particularly Riker Lynch, who smiled like :DDD and raised his hand like *snaps* _that_ when Wes asked for those in favor of a Kurt/Blaine duet.

I hate the damn cockblocking piano at the beginning of Hell to the No.

I will never get tired of hearing them say Westerville, Ohio (my hometown :'D) on this show. You go, Warblers. Represent da Ville.

Darren and Chris deserve every single award in the history of the world for the kiss scene. They both did such a beautiful job.

This was, of course, the one episode that BOTH my parents decided they wanted to watch. I almost fell off the couch when Kurt & Blaine kissed.

And my parents were looking at me like O_O

Pavarotti is a martyr for the Klaine cause.

Kurt whistling with Pavarotti before he randomly dies was the cutest non-kiss-related thing ever.

I was almost late to school on Wednesday because I was watching the kiss over and over.

It's embarrassing how many times I've watched it. *regrets nothing*

Kurt's hand spazzing on the table before he reaches up to touch Blaine's face and pull him closer :,)

Everything is Klaine and nothing hurts.

Now we just have to live through another frakkin' hiatus.

Srsly, Ryan & Friends, not cool.

Best episode ever though.

I thought nothing would beat Preggers (*ahem* Chris Colfer's sweet ass in tight football pants, need I say more?)

Then came Darren and NBK.

Then came Original Songs and canon!Klaine.

And everything is gay and glittery and rainbows and unicorns and Klaine.

And nothing hurts.  


Chapter 34

_Wish I could take it all back._

I sighed to myself and pressed Backspace exasperatedly, holding it down with my index finger until the text was all gone. That was too vague. I racked my brain for another status and typed it into the little bar at the top of my newsfeed when the lightbulb in my head _ding_ed with another idea.

_I always knew he deserved better_.

No, that wouldn't work, either. I decided to forget about updating my status for the moment and clicked on the Profile link in the upper right-hand corner of the Facebook screen.

Seeing my own profile picture didn't help much. It was a close up of Blaine and myself, him behind me with his arms wrapped around my shoulders and his lips pressed against my cheek. I was leaning towards him a little bit, and it looked like I must have been laughing when the picture was taken. Now it just looked like the Kurt in the picture was laughing at me. _Look what you used to have. You screwed it all up_.

It was the last day of spring break before we headed back to Dalton tomorrow. I hadn't heard from Blaine since the day of our falling out. I knew I'd told him to come to me whenever he'd cleared his mind, but he must have still been upset. That worried me. And the longer I went without hearing from him, the more terrible I felt. I didn't want to pick up the phone and call him if he was still mad at me, for fear of annoying him even more. But I had another secret weapon, thanks to the advent of social media: Facebook. Maybe if I made my status something in regards to how terrible I felt, he would see it and realize that I was truly sorry for being so hard on him.

_Kurt Hummel  
Goes to Dalton Academy for Boys  
Lives in Westerville, Ohio  
Sex: Male  
Interested in: Men  
In a relationship with Blaine Anderson  
Knows: English, French  
From Lima, Ohio  
Born on May 27_

Nothing had changed there, not even my relationship status. I wasn't touching that unless, when Blaine finally decided he was ready to talk, he broke things off for good. Just thinking about things being over for good between us made my heart hurt even more. I loved Blaine. I loved him so much. I would never forgive myself if this didn't work out.

Suddenly I had the perfect status.

I clicked back to the home screen and typed furiously into the status bar. I didn't even notice a lone tear slipping down my cheek until it landed on the keyboard.

_I love him more than anything in the world. I just wish he could see that there's absolutely nothing wrong with him. To me, he's perfect_.

I closed my eyes and clicked Share. Done.

"Kurt?"

The sudden voice from behind me startled me, but I relaxed instantly when I realized it was only Carole.

"Hey." My voice still sounded a little upset. I shut my laptop and moved over so she could sit next to me on the couch.

"I made you a chocolate milkshake." She handed me a cold, frothy glass. "Finn used to love these when he was little. He still does."

"Thank you." My voice was an unintentional whisper. I took a sip from the straw. Thick, but delicious. I took a longer sip.

"Is everything okay? Your dad's worried about you."

I squeezed my eyes shut for a second. "Blaine and I got in a fight."

Carole nodded. "I heard that part."

"And...," my hand was shaking; I reached out and set my milkshake glass on the coffee table before it could spill. "I just feel like it's all my fault. Before I left his house a few days ago, I told him to let me know when he's ready to talk. I still haven't heard from him. I just...I can't shake the feeling that he's still mad at me. And I don't want to call him or anything, well actually I _do_, but I can't. What if he's not ready to talk about it yet? I feel like I would just be bothering him if I did that."

Carole didn't say anything, just pulled me into a hug. I gasped out another sob as I settled into her embrace. This was different from when Blaine hugged me, or my dad, or any of my friends. This was a Mom hug.

"I just love him so much," I whispered, smearing tears away from my eyes. "I never thought I'd meet someone like him. Someone who wants to be with me...someone who loves me for all that I am. I finally found him, and of course I had to go and screw everything up."

"You didn't screw everything up," Carole reassured me. "He's probably feeling just as bad as you are, and is trying to figure out what he wants to say to make it right. I'm sure when he feels ready, he'll come aro-"

My phone buzzed. I slipped away from my first real Mom Hug in eight years to pull it out of my pocket. Carole didn't miss how wide my eyes got when I looked at the screen.

"Blaine's calling me."

She stood up and kissed the top of my head before turning to leave the room. "I'll give you some privacy."

I thanked her before answering the call and pressing the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Kurt."

Just the sound of his voice after so many days of silence did unexplainable things to me.

"I saw what you put on Facebook," Blaine continued.

"Oh." I wasn't really sure what else to say.

"I feel terrible, Kurt. I never should have said those things to you."

I inhaled a shaky breath. "Blaine, I doubt you feel as terrible as I do. I've been beating myself up about it nonstop the past couple days. I was way too harsh on you."

"C-can we talk about it?" Blaine asked quietly. "I mean, not now. I'd rather talk about it in person, if you don't mind. Maybe tomorrow at school? I still need to get my thoughts straightened out."

"Sure," I responded gently. "I'll probably be in my dorm unpacking all afternoon tomorrow after we get back to Dalton. Just stop by anytime."

"Okay." Blaine's tone had the slightest trace of a smile in it. After a moment, he added softly, "I miss you, Kurt."

"I miss you, too," I whispered. "So...see you tomorrow?"

"Sounds great." There was definitely a smile in his voice now. "Bye."

"Bye," I whispered after he'd already hung up.

The glimmer of hope I'd been feeling materialized into a smile on my own face. I reached out to grab my milkshake and happily chugged down the rest. Maybe...just maybe...I hadn't screwed up as much as I'd thought.


	35. Chapter 35

**Haven't been writing as much this week because I've been trying to get ready for my first major interview in my future career as a journalist. All Time Low is having a phone press conference tomorrow night, and our school newspaper's advisor wants me to call in and ask them some questions. So I registered and now I've been freaking out about it all week and I haven't been able to listen to any ATL stuff without hearing Alex Gaskarth's voice and thinking "I'M GOING TO BE TALKING TO HIM ON THE PHONE OMG." And I've been spending most of my time trying to come up with some decent questions to ask them instead of writing a lot. Just had to share that. I'm ridiculously excited.**

I also kind of started planning my next Klaine project, which is going to be a multichapter future fic. I haven't actually written anything for that yet, and probably won't start it for at least a couple more weeks, but I'm already really excited about it. I don't know what I'm going to call it yet (I am the worst title-thinker-upper ever) but when I do, I'll let you guys know in case any of you are interested in reading it.

This chapter, for all its worth, ended up being pretty dramatic. The song I quoted near the end is Scars by Allison Iraheta :)

Chapter 35

I couldn't even focus on unpacking my things at Dalton the next afternoon. It took me about an hour just to unload the contents of one suitcase into their respective drawers and hangers in the closet. At this pace, I would be up all night unpacking and probably oversleep tomorrow morning, which would not be a good way to start off fourth quarter. But something kept distracting me.

It was Blaine's school picture and my little collage of letters that spelled out COURAGE, both of which had made their way from my locker at McKinley to my nightstand here at Dalton. Every time I walked back to the open suitcase on my bed to take something else out, it was that picture and those letters that I ended up staring at instead. Before long, I found myself unpacking no more and instead pacing back and forth across my room, waiting for him to be ready to talk and show up.

I had finally managed to take the last few items out of my first suitcase and put them in their rightful places when a quiet knock came from the other side. Then, the voice I'd been aching to hear:

"Kurt?"

I took a deep breath before moving my empty suitcase off the bed. "Come on in, it's unlocked."

The doorknob turned, and in the next second, Blaine stepped into the room. Seeing him in person for the first time since our little falling out did unimaginable things to my heart.

"Hey." His voice sounded sad as he handed me a vase of flowers he'd been carrying. "I, uh...I got these for you."

I didn't even know how to respond to that. He really _was_ too perfect. I blinked, my mouth parted a little bit as I placed the vase on my nightstand next to his picture. "Thank you..."

"There's a bunch of different kinds of flowers in there." His voice was still quiet as he stared at the bouquet. "One of each. A bluebell for humility. A pink camellia, which means I'm longing for you. Red carnation, because my heart aches for you. Forget-me-not for true love. Purple hyacinth, which means I'm sorry and please forgive me. Calla lily, because you're beautiful. Primrose, because I can't live without you. Zinnia for lasting affection. Baby's breath for innocence. Dahlia for elegance and dignity. Yellow iris for passion. And a red rose...I love you."

I nodded, too impressed to really say anything in response. Besides, it didn't seem like he was quite done yet.

"Flower language, remember?" He giggled a little bit. "I _am_ gay. And I couldn't be more proud of it. This is all my fault, Kurt. I just...I..."

He sank down onto the edge of my bed and let his head fall into his hands to hide his face. I sat tentatively next to him, wanting to reach out and touch him more than anything in the world, but I had to restrain myself.

"The flowers are beautiful," I murmured absentmindedly. "But...Blaine, _none _of this is your fault. Quite the opposite, actually. It's all _my _fault. You were so upset, and I was way too hard on you. I feel horrible."

A single tear slipped down my cheek, and Blaine reached out to catch it.

"Don't," he whispered.

I blinked back more tears, confused. "Don't what?"

"Don't cry. Don't feel horrible. You were saying exactly what I needed to hear; I was just too stubborn to accept it. None of this is your fault."

Even after catching that solitary tear, his hand never left my face. It moved over to cradle my cheek; I leaned into his touch while keeping my eyes locked on his. "I'm proud of who I am, Kurt. I'm _so_ proud. And I'm proud I have you. You...I've said it before, and I'll say it again: you're perfect. You're amazing, and you're beautiful - both inside and out- and...you're..."

Blaine had been trying very hard to contain tears of his own for quite a while, but he'd given up and let them fall. "And you're _mine_," he finally managed to choke out.

There was no way to respond to that simple yet powerful declaration other than to reach out and pull him close to me. His head fell against my chest and he buried his face in my shirt while he cried. I said nothing, just held him and waited patiently for him to be ready to talk again.

After a few moments, Blaine drew in a shaky breath. "I would say I have about 90, 95 percent of my memory back from before the attack over Christmas break," he mused. "Somewhere around there. But I still can't remember what I ever did to deserve somebody like you. That'll probably never come back to me. I must have done _something_ right."

"There's nothing really special about me," I admitted with a tiny smile.

"Are you kidding?" Blaine looked up at me and blinked his teary eyes. "I'm pretty sure you're the only example of perfection in the world, and I got lucky enough to have you. And on top of all that, you saved my life. If I'd never met you, I wouldn't even be _alive_, right now. Seriously, Kurt."

"If you'd never met me, your dad would have had no reason to pull the gun on you," I admitted, then added, "Sorry," when I felt him tense up in my arms.

"Yeah, can we not talk about that?" His voice came out as a tear-soaked whisper.

"Good idea." I smiled and pressed a kiss to his forehead, which in turn caused a smile to appear on his face. For a second, I could have sworn my heart stopped. It felt like _years_ since I'd seen him smile.

I'd almost forgotten how beautiful it was.

Leaving my inhibitions behind me, I leaned down to his level and carefully pressed my lips against his, only hesitant because I couldn't tell if he still had his guard up. He didn't. Instead, he let out a sigh against my lips that made me realize just how much he'd missed this. I reached up to hold his face between both of my hands, caressing his skin with just the lightest touch. Blaine parted his lips slightly to allow me to slip my tongue gently inside his mouth. He tasted even better than I remembered.

"I missed this so much," Blaine murmured as we fell back so we were lying on the bed, still kissing.  
"Mmmm. I missed _you_ so much." As I spoke, my lips traveled away from his mouth, over the edge of his face and down onto his neck. Suddenly I was overcome with the intoxicating sensation of _want_. I couldn't think of any other way to put it. He was beautiful, and he was mine again, and I wanted him. That's all I knew.

I wasn't sure if he was ready to go all the way so soon after making up such a sensitive disagreement, but he made no move to pull away as I kissed further and further down his neck. Suddenly the fact that he was wearing clothes began to be as bit of a problem. I wanted to reach more of his skin, but I couldn't. It wasn't like he was wearing a t-shirt, which had thin fabric that was easy to move aside...he was wearing a thick hoodie. _My_ hoodie. My old Cheerios hoodie from McKinley, to be exact. I couldn't even remember how he'd ended up with it, but then again, my wardrobe had grown to accumulate various articles of his clothing and vice versa.

"Kurt...," Blaine broke the kiss and whispered my name warily as I began to tug up the hem of his sweatshirt.

I paused. "We don't have to go any further if you're not ready yet."

He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "Never mind. You might as well see them now."

"See..._what_ now?" I wasn't even sure I wanted to know, but all the same, I pulled the sweatshirt completely off over his head and tossed it aside.

As soon as I saw the naked upper half of his body, I immediately knew what he was talking about.

He had scars. Quite a few of them, criss-crossing his forearms near the elbows and more down by the waistband of his jeans, by his hipbones. It didn't take a genius to figure out that they'd been put there intentionally.

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out save for a tiny, strangled noise at the back of my throat as I reached forward to trace my fingertips lightly over the scars on one of his arms. I blinked a few times and stared in disbelief. I had to have been hallucinating. Why would he do something like this to himself?

I looked him over, unable to take my eyes away from those hideous scars, but finally forced myself to do so when I felt like I was about to throw up. I withdrew my hand quickly, as if it had been bitten by a poisonous snake, and curled myself up into a tiny, trembling ball on the bed.

"B-Blaine," I finally managed to blubber through my tears. "_Why_."

"Shhh. Kurt, I'm fine now," he whispered, reaching out to cradle me against his chest. "Will you let me explain?"

I turned around to look him in the eyes, a small movement which almost killed me when I saw the pain in them.

"I...I cut," he admitted, his voice shaky. "The morning after we...fought. My mom and I went to the police station, and the whole time, I was still feeling...well, you know how I was feeling. I still couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong with me. So...so when we got home, I went into the bathroom upstairs, took my razor and...you know."

I turned away from him, ashamed. "I _knew_ this was all my fault. I should have just told you right off the bat that _there's nothing wrong with you_."

"And then I thought about you." Blaine wasn't finished. "I started feeling so, so incredibly stupid that maybe I'd said something earlier that day that would make me lose you forever. So...I...cut more. And that's when my mom walked in."

"Thank god," I whispered.

"She freaked out, of course, but she somehow managed to help me get everything clotted before I could bleed out. Then she just...she started hardcore sobbing and she hugged me. I hugged her back, but the only thing I could say was, 'Don't tell Kurt. _Please_ don't tell Kurt.'"

"I was going to find out eventually," I gasped around another sob.

"That's the only time I did it. I swear, Kurt. I even went to a few sessions with a therapist last week after it happened, and I'm going to start meeting with the school psychologist here once a week. I need to get help, Kurt, I don't want anything like this to ever happen again."

He was silent for a while before he continued in a small voice. "Are you mad at me?"

Suddenly, something seemed very wrong about the way he was holding me. If anything, I was the one who needed to be holding him. There was no reason for him to be comforting me when he was obviously harboring so much pain.

I slipped gently out of his arms and immediately pulled him close to me again in an embrace of my own.

"I'm not mad," I whispered. One by one, my tears began to fall down onto his skin as I traced my fingers lightly over the scars near his waist. "But I can't say I'm not upset. You're too beautiful to do this to yourself."

"I'm never going to do it again," he murmured fiercely. "I promise. People say it's supposed to feel good, be an outlet for your pain and make you numb and all that, but it just made me feel a thousand times worse."

"Never again," I repeated in a broken whisper.

I held him impossibly close to me for what could have been forever. After everything that had happened, we just needed some time to just _be_ together. And after discovering what he'd done to himself after our fight, there was no way I wanted to leave his side.

My fingers ghosted lazily up the column of his spine and I unconsciously began humming a forgotten song that had popped into my head. I couldn't even remember where I'd heard it or who sang it, but the lyrics seemed clear as day to me now.

_It doesn't matter who you are, we all have our scars_...


	36. Chapter 36

**I feel the need to comment on Chris and Darren (oh, I'm sorry, DC)'s Twitter conversation from Monday. The images it put into my head. O_O I can't stop picturing the two of them hanging out in real life, like on the Glee set, maybe in their Dalton uniforms, and having an animated discussion about monkeys and hovercrafts (complete with OTT facial expressions and hand gestures). I feel like the two of them would be the biggest dorks ever in person. I still love them. :D**

Some of you have been asking me about the other multichapter story I started working on, so I'll give you guys a brief summary of that. It's a future fic, first of all, and Kurt & Dave Karofsky are together (don't kill me yet, just read the rest of this...). They have a daughter (Kurt's biologically, via surrogate) and their life is all picture perfect at first until Dave starts drinking and both physically and emotionally abuses Kurt and their daughter as he spirals downwards into alcoholism. Kurt is terrified for his and his daughter's lives, so he takes her and runs away one night to Chicago, where Blaine lives. Blaine knows what has been going on and allows Kurt and his daughter to stay with him. As Kurt recovers, Blaine realizes just how much he loves him, and regrets not having confessed his love to Kurt while the two of them were in high school. He hates seeing Kurt in so much pain, and Blaine thinks that if only he'd told Kurt how he really felt, Kurt would have chosen him over Dave and wouldn't have had to go through so much abuse. But romance is not exactly what Kurt is looking for after everything he's been through, so he keeps on recovering from the abuse and Blaine helps him get through it, and eventually the two grow closer and they end up together in the end and Blaine adopts Kurt's daughter and everything is perfect. Blah blah blah.

That's just a general outline of it so far. I started the first chapter last week (unlike this story, I actually *gasp* am building background and not just jumping into the angst right away). It's still not done, and probably won't be for at least another week. I'm really excited about this story though. I've been playing around with titles and right now it's a toss-up between either Lessons in Being a Man, or Boys Will Be Boys. I think I'm leaning towards the first one. Also, Blaine will be in that story from the very first chapter, so if you're thinking, "I want Blaine and not Kurtofsky dammit" then don't worry. I'm gonna try to find a way to work him into every chapter. xD

Enough about that story. Let's talk about this one. I used another one of Darren's songs in here :,) I don't understand how that man didn't have a major-label recording contract before Glee. I'm not even kidding when I say that he's one of the most talented all-around musicians I've ever come across. He sings, he plays piano, violin, guitar, he writes his own stuff...I mean, what more could you ask for. I adore him. So yeah. Thanks to Darren for the awesome song.

Chapter 36

In my dream, I was onstage with the glare of spotlights shining so brightly in my eyes that I couldn't see the audience. Behind me, the rest of the Warblers were singing the a capella harmony that began the song, and after a few measures of this I knew it was my turn to sing, but I opened my mouth and nothing came out. I shot a _help me_ glance towards Blaine, who didn't end up being much help - he simply waited out my part of the song while I attempted to sing and when his turn came, stepped forward and let his voice ring out flawlessly on every word.

The time came for us to harmonize, and the same thing happened. Blaine carried his own while I shot helpless glances to him, the audience, the rest of the Warblers, and back to him again. All Blaine did was keep on singing and staring at me with that loving look in his eyes, which was nice, but still didn't help the fact that nothing was coming out of my mouth.

At the end of the song, the audience clapped and cheered, presumably for Blaine. He bowed gracefully, I did so awkwardly, and then he stepped over to shove me right into the center of the stage in full view of the audience. Instead of showering me with boos, like I thought they would, the crowd only cheered louder. I grinned a wry smile and stepped into an awkward little curtsy. The cheers intensified.

That's when I woke up in a cold sweat, clutching my sheets and...Blaine's bare shoulder. Oh. Right. He'd kind of fallen asleep here last night after showing me his scars. I didn't want to think about that, so I pushed that thought from my mind and took a sleepy glance at the clock on my bedside table. It was 5:43 am. Cool. I had to get up in about forty-five minutes. No point in going back to sleep.

Blaine looked so...different when he was asleep. Looking at him, one would have no idea that just a week ago, his own father had been holding him at gunpoint. Everything about his face exemplified serenity...and then, of course, I had to look down further and see those damn scars. It broke my heart to think that he'd felt the need to do that to himself. From now on, I was going to make absolutely sure that I treated him like the most important person in the world. He deserved nothing less.

I had the perfect idea. Prom was coming up, just about a month and a half away. I needed to come up with some ridiculously cute way to officially ask him to go with me. Maybe I could arrange a nice candlelit dinner or something...no, too cheesy. It was a little too early to be thinking about this, anyway. I was still exhausted. I would come up with something later.

So I lay there for a little while, letting my mind wander, but for some reason I kept on coming back to the dream I'd had. It was so strange. I had never had a solo in front of such a large audience like that, let alone with the same song we were singing for Regionals.

Oh.

My.

Gaga.

Regionals. Were next. Weekend.

Somehow, over everything that had happened over spring break, this little tidbit of information had slipped my mind.

Yeah. I would definitely not be going back to sleep this morning.

The nervousness was making me sweat again. How attractive. Not. I carefully sat up and lifted my shirt off over my head, then pulled Blaine close to me again. He stirred slightly and snuggled in closer, but still didn't wake up.

It was kind of funny. He'd obviously been through so much physical and emotional pain lately. But in my dream, he'd managed to hold his own and not mess up at all.

…

I'd stayed a little late after French, my last period of the day before Warblers practice, to ask my teacher a question, so I was the last one to get to rehearsal. When I burst through the heavy, paneled wooden doors in a rush, the rest of the group all turned to look at me. They were all standing in the middle of the room surrounding Blaine, who sat on a stool tuning his guitar. He was the only one who didn't look up when I entered.

"Oh, hello, Kurt," Wes said flatly. "How nice of you to join us."

Jeff pushed through the group with another stool, which he set down next to Blaine with a smile. "Blaine was actually just getting ready to play us a new song he wrote," he explained, pushing me into the empty stool. "It's about you, apparently."

"It's not a 'new' song," Blaine said with a tiny smile as he strummed a few quiet chords. "I actually wrote it a while ago, after I first met you. I just kind of needed a way to put my feelings for you into words, because I thought there was _no_ way in hell you would ever want to be with a guy like me." He laughed a little bit. "Anyway. This is for you, Kurt."

_Say, wasn't that a funny day?  
_

_Gee, you had a funny way—a way about you._

_A kind of glow of something new._

_Sure—I'll admit that I'm the same._

_Another sucker for a game kids like to play,_

_And the rules they like to use._

_Don't you want the way I feel?_

_Don't you want the way I feel?_

_Don't you want the way I feel for you?_

He smiled at me as he strummed into the second verse. All around us, the rest of the Warblers began adding some a capella harmonies in the background, which actually sounded pretty cool with Blaine's voice and the guitar. So he'd gotten the rest of them to help serenade me. That was...actually really cute.

_The sun: telling me the night is done_

_Well I refuse to let it stop our fun_

_Close your eyes—we'll make it dark again_

_And kiss; there's a thought, so how 'bout this?_

_Let's pretend that both our lips are made of candy_

_After all, we need sweets every now and then_

He winked at me as he sang the last two lines. My heart skipped a couple beats. It was amazing how, after we'd been dating for quite a while now, he was able to make me fall in love with him all over again like this.

_Don't you want the way I feel?_

_Don't you want the way I feel?_

_Don't you want the way I feel for you?_

Yes, Blaine. I _do_ want the way you feel for me. It feels pretty damn incredible, actually.

_Here we are: two strangers in a very different place._

_Who knows what could happen to us next?_

_Here we are with nothing but this little spark._

_It's too cold outside to lay this fire to rest._

_Go? How so very apropos:_

_A goodbye just as soon as I said 'Hello."_

_Well alright, I'll see you later._

_It's true: it's just a fantasy for two._

_But what's the difference if it all could have been true?_

_I guess this is better._

I still couldn't wipe my ridiculously huge smile off my face, but I didn't care. The rest of the Warblers were smiling as well, and so was Blaine as he looked me in the eyes while finishing the song.

_But don't you want the way I feel?_

_Don't you want the way I feel?_

_Don't you want the way I feel for you?_

_Oh, don't you want the way I feel?_

_Don't you want the way I feel?_

_Don't you want the way I feel for you?_

_Don't you want the way that I feel for you?_

I clapped enthusiastically for a second as he set the guitar down and leaned it up against his stool, then stopped as I realized I was the only person in the room who was doing so. Blaine stood up and crossed the short distance over to where I sat and took my hands in both of his to silence my applause.

"Kurt," he said, looking into my eyes, and suddenly it felt like we were the only two people in the room. "I know we've been through some tough times lately, but I just wanted to show you that I really _am_ sorry. I got together with the rest of these guys over break and kind of forced them into backing me up on this little number. Thanks again, guys."

He turned to acknowledge the rest of the room, still holding my hands, before returning his attention to me.

"So um. I guess this was just kind of another apology...and a strange way to ask if you'd like to go to prom with me?"

Oh no he didn't. He beat me to my own punch. How dare he.

Then I looked at him - _really_ looked at him - and saw the adorably hopeful smile lighting up his face. I couldn't help but smile in response.

"Blaine, you just asked me the exact question I was going to ask you in a much less-creative way. Thank you."

He squeezed my hands. "So is that a yes?"

I tilted my face up as a subtle hint that he should really kiss me now. "Yes."

When both of us are standing, I'm about two inches taller than Blaine, so this time _he_ was the one who had to lean down to kiss me, since I was sitting. And of course the rest of the Warblers chose _this_ moment to applaud. Someone who sounded like either Nick or David yelled out "Get some!" I smirked under Blaine's lips and did exactly that, opening my mouth as I proceeded to eat his face off.

We broke away after a while, and I took a moment to appreciate how absolutely gorgeous Blaine was while his face was still close to mine. His hazel eyes were wide and dilated, his lips swollen and parted, his cheeks flushed. It should not be legal to look that beautiful.

Wes cleared his throat loudly. "Y'know what? No rehearsal today. Let's go out for pizza or something, I'm buying. Kurt, Blaine, if you guys'd rather stay here and have sex or something, you don't have to come."

I blushed, but Blaine didn't miss a beat as he helped me up. "Nah, that's okay, we'll tag along." He looped his arm through mine and leaned his face in closer to me as he continued. "I'll make it up to you later."

I giggled, but the awkward situation that had been created (once again) by Wes was interrupted as I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket.

"You go on with them," I told Blaine, gesturing to the rest of the Warblers who were leaving the choir room. "I'll catch up."

"Okay." He gave my hand a little squeeze, then retreated as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I couldn't help but smile when I saw Mercedes' name on the caller ID.

"Hey girl hey!" Yes, I know, stupid way to answer the phone, but I was so excited. I felt like I hadn't talked to her in so long.

"Kurt!" At least Mercedes sounded equally excited. "Congratulations!"

Color me confused. "Um, thanks? What did I do?"

"You got asked to prom in the cutest way ever by your fine-ass boyfriend! I think that deserves some major props."

Color me an even darker shade of confused. "Wait...how'd you find out already?"

"David's Facebook status." I could just see her rolling her eyes.

"Oh, sweet Gaga. What does it say?" I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

"Hold on...," I heard her clicking on something from the other end of the line before she read. "'So glad Kurt Hummel' - you're tagged - 'agreed to go to prom with Blaine Anderson. We would have made total fools out of ourselves with this whole serenading thing if he'd said no.'"

"David." I mumbled his name like it was an expletive. "Thanks so much, Mercedes. I've been needing a happy moment like this."

"You deserve it," she said with a genuine friendly smile in her voice. "Hey, so I needed to ask you something. Us New Directions girls need to go dress shopping, we were planning on maybe driving down to Columbus this coming weekend. Wanna come with us?"

I would have loved nothing more, but that was exactly a week before Regionals, and I knew for a fact that we needed to buckle down and practice since we were skipping rehearsal today.

"Mercedes, that's really sweet of you, but I don't know..."

"Aw, c'mon, Kurt," she pleaded. "You give better fashion advice than anyone else we know. Plus, we miss you. Pleeeeeease?"

I giggled. "Sure. I'd love to."

"Sweet! Okay, I'll let you know when we figure out a time and stuff. This is gonna be so much fun."

"I'm so excited. I need a good shopping trip," I admitted. "These damn uniforms don't allow for much creativity."

"They look _good_ on y'all, though. Some of those prep school boys...hot damn." Mercedes laughed a little bit. "I should stop talking now or else I'm gonna start gushing over that fine boy you got."

"He's _mine_," I insisted defensively, but laughed to let her know I hadn't taken any offense. "Hey, speaking of that fine boy I got, he and the rest of the guys are waiting for me. We're all going out to dinner. Talk to you later?"

"Okay!" Mercedes said happily. "Bye, Kurt!"

I said goodbye to her and hung up the phone. After everything that had happened lately, it finally looked like things were starting to take a turn for the better. I was officially going to prom with, to steal Mercedes' words, my fine boy, and I had a shopping date with my favorite girls.

Things were looking up.


	37. Chapter 37

**Hi hi hi. I couldn't resist the idea of Kurt going shopping with all the girls, so that's where this came from. There are pictures of all the dresses in my profile, if you want to see.**

Also, I posted the first chapter of my new story, Lessons in Being a Man, last week, so you should check that out. I'm really excited for that one. :)

Apologizing in advance for any formatting errors. GoogleDocs has a mind of its own, and I tried to fix all the stuff it messed up, but I might have missed a few.

Chapter 37

The minivan, borrowed from Tina's mom so it could fit all eight of us, shook with the beat of the music as we rolled down the highway towards Columbus. I was immensely glad I'd been the first to call shotgun, because it was considerably less crowded up here in the front. Tina, obviously, was driving, I was in the passenger seat. Quinn, Rachel, and Mercedes occupied the middle row. In the very back, Brittany was sitting on Santana's lap, despite the fact that there were three seats, and Lauren was looking at them with one of her signature glares.

And of course, you couldn't get seven girls and a gay guy together in one car - especially en route to one of the biggest shopping trips of the year - and _not _listen to Lady Gaga. So it was for that reason why Boys, Boys, Boys was pounding throughout the interior of the van, and we were all singing along, me being the loudest.

_Boys, boys, boys, we like boys in cars  
_

_Boys, boys, boys buy us drinks in bars_

"Kurt!" Mercedes giggled as I started jamming out to the chorus.

"What?" I stopped singing for a second but kept on dancing in my seat.

She shook her head. "Nothing. You're just adorable."

_Boys, boys, boys with hairspray and denim_

_Boys, boys, boys, we love them! We love them!_

"I try," I called back to her over the music as the chorus ended, and she didn't say anything in response because now it was time for the bridge and they all knew I _got_this.

_I'm not loose, I like to party_

_Let's get lost in your Ferrari_

_Not psychotic or dramatic_

_I like boys and that is that_

"Get it, Kurt!" Quinn called enthusiastically from behind me, clapping a little bit. I heard Santana whistle from the backseat.

_Love it when you call me legs_

_In the morning buy me eggs_

_Watch your heart when we're together_

_Boys like you love me forever_,_ oh_!

The rest of the girls cheered as I finished, even, surprisingly, Rachel. "Kurt, are you _sure_ you don't want to come back to New Directions? We could use some of your fierce showmanship."

"I think he's perfectly fine at Dalton." Santana's responding voice was low and sultry-sounding. "I usually go for the big, buff football guys, but _damn_, boy. You got one nice piece of man candy."

"He looks like Harry Potter," Brittany added in her quiet monotone.

"He looks like a hobbit," Lauren responded with a sigh. "But he's cute."

"Oh my god, you guys," I giggled.

Tina squealed before anyone could respond. "Kurt! Speaking of Blaine. You should totally call him and sing this song. It would be hilarious."

"What song?" I hadn't even realized that a new one had started. I listened for a moment and felt my eyes go impossibly wide. "Oh, no."

_Don't want your money, that shit's ugly_

_Just want your sex_

_Take a bite of my bad girl meat_

_Take a bite of me, let me see, you're mean_

"I'm doing it," Santana announced from the backseat.

"Sweet Jesus, Santana, if you call him I will-"

"Hello?" Blaine's speakerphone voice echoed through the car. Tina reached over to turn the music down a little bit.

"Hi, Blaine!" the girls all called in somewhat broken unison.

"Hey, Blaine," I said loudly a second after everybody else.

He laughed from the other end of the line. "Hello, ladies and Kurt. How's your shopping going?"

"We're not there yet, but Kurt wanted to call you so he could sing to you!" Santana had to shout over the music, which was still somewhat loud.

"Did not!" I yelled back towards the phone.

"Aww, Kurt, that's sweet." I could tell he was smiling. "With what song do I have the honor of being serenaded...in a crowded car full of girls...through the phone?"

"Blaine, this is embarrassing! I'm not singing _this _song to you, especially not through the phone. I can barely keep a straight face right now." I had started laughing uncontrollably without even realizing it, which scared me a little.

"What song is it?" Blaine asked. "I can hear the music, but I can't tell what it is."

"Kurt wants you to take a bite of his bad boy meat!" Rachel, of all people, shouted in response through a fit of giggles. I reached back and swatted aimlessly at her in a fruitless attempt to get her to shut up.

"Hmmm, I can't say I would be opposed to that," Blaine sounded sexier through the phone than anybody should ever be allowed to.

"Blaaaaaine!" I whined, still laughing. "Not helping!"

"Show Kurt your _teeth_," Lauren growled.

"So is Blaine like a dentist or something?" Brittany wondered aloud. Everyone ignored her.

"No offense, you guys, but I feel like it would be really awkward for me and Kurt if we finished this conversation out loud." Blaine still sounded like he was trying to hold back laughter. "Take me off speaker so I can talk to him, please?"

"One sec," Santana said. She pressed something on the screen before tossing her phone to me. I fumbled with it for a second before it actually landed in my hands.

"Hi," I giggled breathlessly, pressing the phone to my ear. "Sorry about that."

"No, it's fine, don't worry about it," Blaine reassured me. "Although I hold them completely responsible for the mental images that are now in my head."

"Mental images of...?"

"Use your imagination."

The girls were all leaning in, trying to hear Blaine's end of the conversation, which they couldn't. I decided to take a little moment and get revenge.

"_No_, Blaine. I will _not_ have phone sex with you while I'm in the car with a bunch of my friends! Who are girls! Are you insane?"

The girls started squealing and giggling. On the other end of the line, Blaine sounded like he was literally rolling on the floor laughing. "Oh my god, Kurt. That's payback for me playing along with them, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." I still couldn't hold back a smile.

Blaine sighed, still with a smile in his voice. "So how's the estrogen rush?"

I tilted my head to the side. "A weird change of pace after spending so much time in the testosterone haven that is Dalton Academy, but I'm having fun. How are you?"

"Oh, I'm just taking advantage of the fact that you're gone to put together some plans for prom night...," he trailed off.

"What kind of plans?" Suddenly I was breathlessly excited.

"Special ones," he said with deliberate vagueness. "I'm trying to put together something that only the most perfect boy in the world deserves. It's a little bit of a challenge, but I really hope he'll like it."

I sighed and leaned my head back to stare out the window at the scenery racing by. "Blaine, that's so sweet, but you really don't have to do anything elaborate."

"But I _want_ to," he insisted. "It's my senior year, and I'm going with _you_. I'm going all out for you. You deserve it."

I smiled. "You're too good to me."

Santana sighed loudly from the backseat. "Kurt, you're very cute with your sexy-ass boyfriend, but I'd like my phone back. I thought he was just gonna say hi."

"Hold on," I told her. Then, to Blaine, "I gotta go. Santana wants her phone back."

"Okay," Blaine said. "Have fun, Kurt. I love you."

I blushed. I would never get over the amazing feeling that swelled through my heart whenever he said those words.

"I love you, too," I told him. "Bye."

I smiled as I hung up the phone and flipped it back to Santana.

…

Quinn frowned as she stepped out of the dressing room in a fire-engine red floor length gown.

"I don't know, you guys," she admitted, turning in the three-way mirror to see herself from all angles. "I think I liked that white one better."

Mercedes, already decked out in a gorgeous purple gown with a matching bolero, sucked in a breath through her teeth. "Ooooh. Yeah, you might want to go put the other one on, girl. That is _not_your color."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." I gave Mercedes a high five. "The white one was gorgeous on you. I think you should go with that," I told Quinn.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too." She turned back towards her dressing room. "I'll go try that one again."

As soon as she was gone, Rachel twirled out of her dressing room in a pretty baby pink number, obviously loving it already as she chirped, "What do you think?"

"_Love _it," Tina commented as she opened her door and stepped up to the mirror beside Rachel. She looked at me and gestured to her own bright, multicolored ensemble. "Kurt. Thoughts?"

I nodded in approval. "It looks fantastic on you. Plus, the good thing is, it'll match pretty much any bright shade of eyeshadow you decide to go with." I knew Tina and her fondness for bright makeup that matched her hair extensions. "Rachel, that looks gorgeous. It shows off your figure really well."

"Step aside, ladies," Lauren announced in a bored voice from behind Rachel and Tina, and the other two girls immediately shared a glance and moved so she could get to the mirror.

At first I was appalled. She was in a sleeveless deep purple ballgown with lots of glittery accents and a full skirt. But the closer she got to the mirror, I realized, the better it looked.

"I surprisingly like it," I told her. "Not gonna lie, when you first showed it to me I thought _no way_, but it actually looks great on you."

"Got it!" Quinn's voice called, and a few seconds later, she was stepping towards the mirror as well. She'd changed back into the first dress she'd tried on - a gorgeous white gown with a rhinestone-accented bodice and empire waist. "This one, right?"

"Yes," I said, almost in unison with the girls.

"That looks _so _pretty on you, Quinn," Tina told her with a small smile.

"Excuse me." Without warning, Santana pushed gently through the group to get in front of the mirror. Brittany wasn't far behind. Both of their dresses looked beautiful - the former in a grayish-gold halter dress with a little ruffle on the side, the latter in a white one-shoulder gown with a golden empire waist.

I gave them both a thumbs up and couldn't help but smile. "You guys all look amazing, seriously. I almost want to take a picture of you or something."

"Oh!" Rachel was already disappearing back into her dressing room. "I have my camera in my purse...hold on..."

"Aww, Kurt, we want you to be _in _the picture," Tina said with a little frown.

"Got it!" Rachel reappeared, holding her camera. She turned to the dressing room attendant and handed it to her. "Excuse me, would you mind taking a picture of us?"

Everyone formed a conglomerated little blob and somehow shoved me to the front as Rachel quickly showed the woman how to use the camera before joining the group.

"Say cheese!" Mercedes called from somewhere within the blob of people posing for the camera.

Santana frowned. "Do we have to say 'cheese'? Where did that even come from, anyway?"

"Let's say, 'We all turned Kurt into a ladies' man,'" Brittany suggested.

Tina burst into giggles. "Oh my god, I _love _that."

"I'm gay," I explained to the woman taking the picture, who looked confused.

She nodded as she realized the irony. "Okay, on three. One...two...three!"

"We all turned Kurt into a ladies' man!" the girls chorused.

"I like boys and that is that!" I shouted over them, quoting one of the Gaga songs we'd been listening to earlier.

Rachel giggled as the woman handed her back the camera. "Kurt, you are adorable."

"I know. We miss you," Mercedes said sadly.

"Aww, guys...girls...come here." I held my arms out to indicate a group hug. Instead, I ended up being swallowed in their massive embrace. "Ahh! Okay, I...I feel the love!"

I couldn't help but smile to myself. It was true. I had friends who loved me, and a fabulous boyfriend waiting for me back at school.

Speaking of which, I couldn't wait to see what those special plans were.


	38. Chapter 38

Soooo. Regionals. Irony of ironies, I was actually going to have Blaine & Kurt do Raise Your Glass as their duet. I had that idea back before I even knew they were doing it on the show. So I changed my plans slightly and just stuck with the songs they actually sang.

Also, the backstage dialogue is the same, but I changed their body language a little bit. I figured that in this story, they've been dating a lot longer that they have been on the show up to this point, so I threw in a little more physical contact.

It's almost 2 in the morning so I should stop talking and go to sleep. 

* * *

Chapter 38

Shopping with the girls had been about the only fun part of my week. After that, the six days between the shopping trip and Regionals had flown by with unprecedented speed, and before I knew it, D-Day was staring me right in the face.

I wasn't nervous when I woke up at six o'clock that morning. I wasn't nervous while I was getting ready. I wasn't nervous when I walked down to Blaine's dorm at seven thirty so we could walk down to the bus together and get a seat. I wasn't nervous for the entire bus ride there, but that was probably because Blaine kept his arm around me the whole time as we chatted amiably with the rest of the group.

I wasn't nervous at all until I found myself backstage, alone, about two minutes before we were supposed to go on. Because all of a sudden, I remembered that damn dream I'd had.

Blaine came over to stand next to me. I saw him out of the corner of my eye, but was too paralyzed with fear to turn and acknowledge him.

"Has anyone ever literally died onstage?" There was more uncertainty in my voice than I'd intended.

Blaine stepped closer to me and wrapped me in a hug. "Are you nervous?" he murmured.

"Please don't judge me," I mumbled into his shoulder, "it's just the first time I've ever had a solo in front of a competition audience. I have this nightmare that I'm going to forget the lyrics, or I'm going to sing and nothing is going to come out."

Blaine was looking at me expectantly, so I attempted to smile. "Okay, you can judge me."

He tilted my face up towards his with a gentle hand under my chin. "I think it's adorable," he told me, keeping his eyes locked on mine. "I think _you're_ adorable. And the only people that are going to be dying tonight are the people in that audience, because you and I are gonna _kill _this thing."

The only thing I could do was reach out and grab the front of his blazer so I could pull him even closer to me. As his lips landed on mine, I smiled. I knew I had nothing to be afraid of anymore.

We broke the kiss and shared a lingering smile when we heard the emcee start to announce us. Blaine squeezed my hand quickly before turning away and heading over to his side of the stage. I inhaled a shaky breath. Just about six more minutes and this would all be over. I could do this.

As the curtain went up, the Warblers started with their quiet harmonies. I counted off the beats and measures in my head until it was finally time to open my mouth and sing.

_The power lines went out  
_

_And I am all alone_

_But I don't really care at all_

_Not answering my phone_

Okay, was that so bad? I didn't know. I turned slightly as I finished the last line of my part and faced Blaine, who stepped forward and began to sing with all the confidence in the world.

_All the games you played_

_The promises you made_

_Couldn't finish what you started_

_Only darkness still remains_

We smiled at each other and our eyes remained locked for the entire rest of the song. The longer I stared into Blaine's eyes, the more I could feel my insecurities melting away. Our voices sounded so smooth and perfect together, and it was hard to be afraid when sharing the stage with such a force of confidence. I couldn't remember what I'd been afraid of in the first place.

_Blow the candles out_

_Looks like a solo tonight_

_I'm beginning to see the light_

_Blow the candles out_

_Looks like a solo tonight_

_But I think I'll be alright_

I stole a glance at the audience as we launched into the bridge. A bunch people were holding up little candles and swaying side-to-side. That was pretty cool, actually. Seeing that made me smile even bigger, if that were possible.

_One day_

_You will wake up_

_With nothing but your sorries_

_And someday_

_You will get back_

_Everything you gave me_

From there, we crescendoed into a powerful key change as we harmonized together on the final chorus. The way he was looking at me...I couldn't describe it. It was so intimate and emotional, and I felt like we were the only two people in the crowded room...the only two people on the planet.

_Blow the candles out_

_Looks like a solo tonight_

_I'm beginning to see the light_

_Blow the candles out_

_Looks like a solo tonight_

_But I think I'll be alright_

The rest of our performance happened exactly as it had in my dream. We bowed. I tried to walk away. Blaine reached over and pulled me back out to center stage, in front of him. For some reason, everyone cheered. Thankfully, before I had to awkwardly stand there for too long, our next song started. Blaine flashed me a beautiful smile before he began to sing.

_Right right, turn off the lights,_

_We're gonna lose our minds tonight,_

_What's the dealio?_

_I love when it's all too much,_

_5am turn the radio up_

_Where's the rock and roll?_

For the first part of the song, Blaine had decided to incorporate a small interpretive-dance type of thing, even throwing in a little air guitar on "rock and roll." It took all my strength not to bust out giggling onstage. He was too adorable.  
_  
Party crasher, penny snatcher_

_Call me up if you want gangsta_

_Don't be fancy, just get dancey_

_Why so serious?_

It was so interesting that we'd chosen this song as a group without even knowing what was going to happen to Blaine and I over spring break - and what Blaine was going to do to himself as a result of that. He'd thought there had been something wrong with him, and, as he launched into the first chorus, in a way he'd been right. We _were_ wrong - in all the right ways.

_So raise your glass if you are wrong_

_In all the right ways,_

_All my underdogs,_

_We will never be, never be_

_Anything but loud and nitty gritty_

_Dirty little freaks_

_Won't you come on and come on and raise your glass,_

_Just come on and come on and raise your glass_

As usual, Blaine was nothing but confident as he continued the song. To anyone in the audience - hell, even to the rest of the Warblers - he would have seemed completely sure of himself, but I knew better. I had seen him naked and vulnerable. I knew about his scars. Still, the fact that he had been able to overcome all the pain that had been suffocating him lately and perform so incredibly today...I respected the hell out of him for that.

_So if you're too school for cool_

_And you're treated like a fool_

_You can choose to let it go_

_We can always, we can always_

_Party on our own_

I got chills as he began the final chorus. Honest-to-goodness _chills_. I couldn't even sing for a couple seconds because I was so blown away by how amazing he sounded. The audience was going crazy for him, and I couldn't blame them. The way he worked the stage was surreal. I had never been more proud to call him _mine_. He was incredible.

_So raise your - so raise your glass if you are wrong_

_In all the right ways,_

_All my underdogs,_

_We will never be, never be_

_Anything but loud and nitty gritty_

_Dirty little freaks_

_Won't you come on and come on and raise your glass,_

_Just come on and come on and raise your glass_

_Won't you come on and come on and raise your glass_

Just come on and come on and raise your glass for me.

I had never heard an audience cheer louder than that crowd did as we finished the song. We Warblers immediately conglomerated ourselves into a tight little blob onstage, whooping and hollering and patting each other on the back. Someone shoved me (most likely intentionally, but it's not like I minded) into Blaine's arms. He pulled me close to him with a huge smile on his face, but I didn't notice that for a second because I was too busy blowing kisses to the audience.

Blaine, of course, got adorably jealous of the fact that I was kissing something that was not him, even though it was just my own hand. He gently pulled my face towards his and pressed his lips against mine right there in front of the entire audience. I know it sounds lame, but I found myself getting a little teary-eyed. The fact that he felt comfortable enough to kiss me in front of so many people - most of them strangers, nonetheless - made my heart race with unimaginable amounts of joy.

We somehow made our way offstage with the rest of the group while remaining tangled in each others' arms. Once we were back behind the curtains, Blaine pulled me to a stop and smiled as his gaze met mine.

"You sounded _beautiful_." He kissed my forehead.

"You sounded _more_than beautiful," I giggled as I kissed his cheek.

Blaine shook his head. "No, I know for a fact I didn't sound as good as you did. My _god_, Kurt, I would do anything for that beautiful range of yours. Those high notes...your falsetto...it..._does _things to me. I don't even think I can explain it, other than it's so pure and gorgeous. And I'm rambling so I should shut up. But...," he trailed off as he gently trailed his fingertips over my cheek, "I'm making you blush, and it's adorable, so maybe I should continue."

"No, please," I said with another giggle. "Stop it, you're embarrassing me."

"How am I doing that, exactly?" Blaine teased, pressing a small kiss to the corner of my mouth.

"You're just...," I sighed but kept a small smile on my face. "You're too nice to me."

"I'm not nice, I'm just honest." Blaine took my hand and brought it to his lips so he could kiss my fingertips. "I mean it, though, Kurt. You are _so _talented. You know that, right? I mean, I wish I could listen to you sing for the rest of my life."

"But then my voice would get tired and I wouldn't sound as good," I said pointedly.

He kissed my lips. "Will you ever stop being so cute?"

"Only when you stop being so amazing at _everything_," I countered with a smile. "Seriously, though, you should have heard yourself. I could barely even breathe. You took my breath away."

He smirked. "Like this?"

All of a sudden I was being pulled into a fervent, passionate kiss that made my head spin with the intensity of it all. Blaine's lips gently forced mine open and he constricted his arms around me as he breathed through my mouth, sucking the air straight from my lungs - literally taking my breath away. The backs of my knees felt like they were about to give out, and I held onto him for dear life.

I nodded quickly as we broke the kiss. "Exactly like that."

Blaine smiled and gave me one more quick, sweet kiss before taking my hand. "Come on, we should go. You probably want to watch McKinley."

Actually, I would have been perfectly content with making out with him like that for the rest of my life, but he had a point. They watched us, so I should watch them. Plus, they were my friends. I laced my fingers through his and resisted the urge to skip the rest of the way back to our seats in the audience.

…

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Blaine's voice sounded concerned as he looked at me resting in his arms. I didn't return his eye contact, just kept on looking out the window as the typical highway scenery flew by the dirty bus window.

I nodded. "I'm fine. It just...would have been really nice to win, is all." I sighed. "It's totally my fault. I almost missed the key change in Candles. I caught myself at the last second, but I couldn't help feeling like we clashed for like, one note. I'm positive that's why we lost. I-..."

"Kurt," Blaine stated. He cupped my chin and turned my face to look at him. "It's not your fault, okay? The judges just liked New Directions better, and I think that had something to do with the fact that they did original songs. You were _perfect_."

"You think so?" I asked quietly.

"I _know_ so." He reaffirmed this with a soft kiss on my lips.

I smiled up at him. "I love you so much. You know that, right?"

"You're such a sweetheart," he giggled, kissing my cheek. "I love you, too."

My smile grew bigger as I snuggled in as close to him as the stiff bus seat would allow. "So now that that's over...I guess we can focus on prom?"

"Yes," he said simply but forcefully. "I'm still planning stuff. I'm going to make this absolutely _perfect_ for you."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't worry about it. I already know it's going to be perfect. I'll be with you, won't I?"

Blaine smiled and leaned down to nibble playfully on my ear. "Yeah, but I like to spoil you."

"I like being spoiled."

"With that being said...prom is going to blow your mind."

"I'll hold you to that."

"Haven't we been over this before?" Blaine asked in a sultry whisper. "I've always been a man of my word."


	39. Chapter 39

So. Born This Way. Epic, right? All I can say is that it was a HUGE improvement over Night of Neglect (which I liked...kind of...but it was nowhere near my favorite). As much as I love the Warblers, I'm glad Kurt is back at McKinley. He seemed to fit in there so much better. But I hope Klaine stays together, of course, because they're perfect.

And then we have Mr. Christopher Colfer in the Time 100. My journalism class reads Time magazine and we got our 100 Most Influential issues on Tuesday. I already knew Chris was in it and would be on the cover, but that didn't stop me from freaking out once I was holding it in my hands (I may have made some kind of obnoxious little squealy noise). And every week, for each new issue of Time, we have to write a review of some of the articles and talk about the journalistic style and blah blah blah. This week, though, my teacher told us to pick three of the Top 100 and write about why WE think they're influential. My paper will probably end up being a few rambling pages about Chris and how amazing he is, with a few sentences thrown in at the end about two other people.

I hope all the kids who used to harass him in high school see that issue. I hope every single one of them sees that none other than Chris Colfer himself is one of the most influential people in the world, and I hope they feel terrible for not realizing how amazing he really is. I'm such a nice person, I know.

My dad also likes to read Time. I give him all my old issues when I'm done with them at the end of the week. After I finish writing about this one, I'll tell him he can look through it but can I please have it back? Because Chris Colfer is in it and that's kind of fabulous and I would like to keep it for the rest of my life.

Anyway. Sorry this took me so long, but I hope you guys enjoy. :D 

* * *

Chapter 39

I was woken up at five thirty in the morning the day after losing at Regionals by Wes tossing the covers off of me and someone else flicking the lights on and off. It was not a pleasant experience.

"Happy Easter, Kurt! Get up, greet the day!" It was a little too early in the morning for Wes's enthusiasm.

I sat up and squinted around the room as I rubbed my eyes. A good half of the Warblers were here, excluding Blaine. Apparently they hadn't subjected him to this unpleasant wake-up call yet - wait, never mind, he was the one who had been flicking the light switch.

"It's Easter?" I mumbled. This was news to me. "What the hell's going on?"

James said, "_Yeah_, it's Easter," at the same time as Luke saying, "Where have you been?"

"I don't know! I don't pay attention to religious holidays," I protested. "Seriously, though, _what_ is going on?"

"The Easter egg hunt!" Blaine exclaimed with a smile on his face. "It's a Warblers tradition. Come on!"

"Do we _have _to do it at...," I glanced at the clock, "5:37 am? And why didn't anybody tell me about this?"

"It's always kind of fun to let the new guys figure it out on their own," David explained with a sheepish smile. "And by 'on their own' I mean 'by us waking them up like this.'"

"And doing it early is part of the tradition," Blaine chimed in, reaching forward to grab my hand and pull me out of bed. "All of us seniors...," he gestured to himself, Wes, David and James, "sneak out at night to hide the eggs. We wake the rest of the guys up early the next morning and they all go look for the eggs. Then we all get together for breakfast and hand out prizes to the guys who find the most. It's pretty fun, actually."

Wes shook his head. "Blaine, Blaine, Blaine. You forgot the most important part." He smiled at me. "During breakfast, we also elect the officers for next year. Y'know...president, vice president, secretary, treasurer...and of course, the all-important lead singer."

"Blaine won by a landslide last year," Nick said from somewhere in the back of the group - I couldn't even believe this many guys had managed to fit in my tiny room.

I shot an intrigued glance at Blaine, who blushed. "It was a pretty close vote, actually," he mumbled.

David rolled his eyes. "He never gives himself enough credit. Now come on, let's go get the rest of the guys. We need to get started before it gets too light outside and we get caught."

"Caught?" My eyes widened as I followed the rest of the guys out into the hall.

"Yeah, we're technically not supposed to do this," Blaine explained as we walked across the hall to the room Thad and Jeff shared. "Back in the seventies some guy put weed in one of the plastic eggs and the administration wasn't too happy about it. They made a rule against doing the egg hunt, but it only stayed effective for a few years before the Warblers started up the tradition again. The only difference is now we can't do it in broad daylight."

"There's no weed in any of these, is there?" I asked cautiously. Not that I was _that _much of a goody-goody, but getting expelled in a situation like this would be just my luck.

"Nah." Blaine shook his head. "Just candy. We're all really strict about what goes in the eggs. It would be one thing if we got caught sneaking around campus at six in the morning...it would be another if we got caught sneaking around campus at six in the morning _and _there were drugs or something in the eggs."

"Okay, good." I laughed a little bit as I heard Wes shouting excitedly from inside the room to wake Thad and Jeff up - Blaine and I were still out in the hallway. "I'm gonna be so bad at this," I admitted. "I probably won't find any."

"Don't worry about that." Blaine winked. "I still remember where I hid all mine. I'll help you out."

I smirked. "Isn't that cheating?"

"We're already breaking the rules by doing the hunt, aren't we?" Blaine countered. He stepped closer to me and linked his fingers through mine. "Besides, the prizes are pretty legit, I'm not gonna lie."

I pondered for a moment, trying to think of "legit" prizes that wouldn't be too over-the-top for an Easter egg hunt, and came up empty.

"Define 'legit.'"

"That's for me to know," Blaine said as we stepped aside to let the rest of the guys out of the room; they'd finally managed to get Jeff and Thad up and moving, "and you to find out when you win."

…

Blaine was wrong, though. Somehow, even with his help, I didn't win.

"You don't know that yet," he remarked when I pointed this out as we followed the rest of the Warblers into the senior commons for breakfast.

I shot a glance towards Jeff, who was triumphantly bearing three overflowing baskets of plastic eggs, then narrowed my eyes and held up my own single basket, which was only about three quarters of the way full.

"He must have gotten to some of the ones I hid before we did," Blaine mumbled.

I didn't say anything, just continued staring at Nick, who wasn't too far behind Jeff. He was carrying two more full baskets. They both looked very proud of themselves.

"Damn them," Blaine cursed, then laughed a little bit. "Don't worry about it. I still think we - well, _you_," he winked, "did pretty good." As we took our places in line for the buffet-style breakfast, he nodded over at Luke, who was sitting on one of the couches eating candy from one of the five eggs he'd managed to find. "At least you can say more than poor Luke over there."

"That's true," I admitted with a smile, then frowned as I looked over the selection of breakfast food. "Y'know, as weird as this sounds, I kind of just want to eat candy."

"Wait, hold up. Did _Kurt Hummel_ just admit he wants to gorge himself on _candy_? _My _Kurt?" He shook his head as he piled a few pieces of toast onto his plate. "Nah. I refuse to believe it."

I stepped out of line so that the people who wanted to eat actual healthy food could do so without me taking up space. "Weird, right?" I'd never been one of those kids who filled up on sweets, but for whatever reason, I was in the mood for it now. "I'll probably come over here and get something at some point, but for now, I don't care." I reached into my basket, pulled out a purple plastic egg, and popped it open. It was full of jelly beans. I ate a red one.

"Oh, thank you!" Blaine smiled as he reached over and plucked one of the jelly beans from my egg. He popped it into his mouth and grinned proudly as he chewed.

I raised one eyebrow. "Did I say you could have one?"

"I helped."

"Yes, and thank you, but you weren't supposed to." I turned protectively away from him to shield my egg as he reached for another. "And stop trying to steal my jelly beans!"

"Well _sorry_." He giggled unapologetically as he stepped out of line with his plate. "Easter is one of the few days of the year where I can eat as much candy as I want and not give a damn, okay?" As we walked over to one of the couches to take a seat, I ate another jelly bean and Blaine reached over once again to try and steal one.

I held the egg once more out of his reach. "Blaine! They're mine!"

"You're so cute when you're protective of your candy, you know?" Blaine commented as we took a seat.

"I don't like people trying to usurp my jelly beans." I glared and pouted and popped another one into my mouth to prove my point.

I wasn't looking at him, but I could still feel his eyes on me. "Besides," I said nonchalantly, "you already have a perfect body. There is no reason why you need to risk it."

"I'm not gonna gain like, a hundred pounds just from eating a few jelly beans," Blaine pointed out, and tried to steal yet another one.

"Blaine!" I squealed, trying to lean away from him, and in doing so somehow ended up spilling the remaining jelly beans out of the egg and onto the floor. "Look what you did!"

"If you'd just given me some in the first place, this never would have happened." Blaine stuck out his tongue and bent over to pick up all the jelly beans and wrapped them in a napkin, since neither of us would want to eat them after they'd been on the floor. "Now neither of us get them."

From the front of the room, Wes cleared his throat, obviously waiting to start the meeting.

"They were mine in the first place," I whispered with a pout before turning my attention towards Wes.

"Gentlemen, I'd like to welcome you all to the forty-third annual Warblers Easter egg hunt, breakfast, and election ceremony." Wes, for all he was worth, could be serious when the time came. "First, we're going to announce the winners of the egg hunt. In second place..."

He paused dramatically. After all the eggs had been found, the seniors had tallied up the number in everyone's basket. I found myself hoping that maybe I had somehow ended up with more than Jeff or Nick.

"Nick Thomas, who found thirty-three!" Wes announced. "And you win..."

With a flourish, he gestured to David, who presented Nick with a cube-shaped box. I couldn't see the picture on the front to tell what it was.

"This state-of-the-art iPod speaker system valued at over two hundred dollars! The speakers can be detached from each other and used to create a Surround Sound-like experience. Congratulations!" Wes had the perfect game show host voice, I noticed.

Nick claimed his prize with a triumphant grin and went to sit beside Jeff, who already looked like he was getting ready to claim whatever he'd won.

"And, with fifty-seven eggs, our first place winner is..."

Wes glanced at David, who tapped out a quick drumroll before they announced Jeff's name in unison.

"Jeff, you win a brand new iPad 2!" Wes announced.

I let out a low whistle. "Just for winning an Easter egg hunt?" I asked Blaine quietly.

"Wes's stepdad works at Apple," he explained. "They get like, _major _discounts on all this stuff."

I nodded. "Interesting."

Blaine squeezed my hand and stood up as Wes started saying something else. "I gotta go help run the election," he told me quietly. "Senior thing."

He stood up and walked to join Wes and David at the front of the room. A few seconds later, James, the fourth senior, stood up as well and joined them. They each took a turn explaining that this was an important process and that we should vote for whoever they thought would do the best job, and that it was not a popularity contest, pretty much everything I'd heard before voting in any school election.

Something Blaine said caught my attention, though.

"The people you elect today will represent the Warblers throughout all of next year," he explained. "It's a huge responsibility and part of a very strong tradition here at Dalton, so make sure you make the right decision."

The actual election process was quicker than I thought it would be. We eventually decided on Thad for president, Luke for vice president, Jeff for secretary and Nick for treasurer. There was only one position left.

Blaine stepped forward after those four categories had all been tallied and finalized.

"Lead singer," he declared. "I was absolutely honored to be chosen for this position last year, but now it's time for me to pass the duty on to somebody else."

It may have been my imagination, but for a second, it looked like his eyes flickered over to me.

"The frontman of the Warblers not only has to be a confident performer, but he also has to know how to be a leader," Blaine continued. "It's his job to keep the group on task during rehearsals and in a performance setting. He carries the weight of the entire rest of the group on his shoulders. I would be lying if I said it wasn't a gigantic responsibility, but at the same time, I've enjoyed every minute of it." He smiled.

Wes stepped up beside him. "As is tradition, the current frontman gets to choose the first candidate for the position next year," he said. "Blaine, who do you nominate?"

Someone in the back of the room coughed my name.

Blaine smiled and kept his eyes locked on mine as he spoke.

"I nominate Kurt Hummel," he announced.

It seemed like there was more he wanted to say. After a few seconds, he continued.

"I know it may seem like a conflict of interest because the two of us are dating," he said, "but really, anybody with any common sense whatsoever could see how talented Kurt is. As I'm sure you all know, he's a countertenor, and countertenors are like rare gems in the world of music today. Kurt can hit notes that the rest of us in here can only dream about. He's got a _beautiful _voice, absolutely beautiful, and I think he is very capable of being the musical leader of the Warblers next year."

It took a while for his words to sink in. I didn't think I would ever get used to the amazing feeling that swelled my heart whenever he complimented me.

"I second the nomination." Thad spoke up and raised his hand a few seconds after Blaine had finished talking.

More hands raised, more voices heard.

"I third."

"Fourth."

"Fifth."

And so on, and so forth. Blaine kept smiling at me the whole time as I watched in disbelief.

"Are there any more nominations?" Wes asked after everybody had spoken up.

He was met with silence. Nobody else wanted to offer another nomination.

Blaine smiled. "It's unanimous, it looks like," he said happily.

Oh my god. This couldn't be happening, could it? They really wanted _me_to be their frontman for next year?

But Blaine's next words removed all my doubts and sealed the deal.

"Gentlemen, your lead soloist for the 2011-2012 school year," he announced. "Mr. Kurt Hummel."


	40. Chapter 40

I apologize. I wanted this to be prom, and I was planning on it being prom, and then I realized that actual Glee prom is this Tuesday. I didn't want to write prom for this story until I saw that episode, even though that's going to be at McKinley and prom in this story will obviously be at Dalton. I just wanted to see how they play it out, so I turned this into a little filler chapter. Next one _will_ be prom, I promise, and it will be awesome. I'm really excited for it. I was just thinking about how I didn't want to write prom for this before I saw it in the actual show, so I kind of thought of this last minute. 

* * *

Chapter 40

Prom season obviously meant one thing: finding a fabulous outfit, and I was more than capable of doing that. I had been doing a lot of thinking, and I'd ultimately decided that I would stick with my good friend Giorgio Armani for this momentous occasion. After class one day, I managed to ditch Warblers rehearsal - which was really unnecessary, now that we'd lost at Regionals - and catch the off-campus shuttle over to the mall so I could get fitted for a tuxedo.

Yes, I owned a tuxedo of my own, but I felt like this called for a brand new one. It was prom, after all, and I would have a gorgeous boy on my arm. I had to look _fabulous_.

Once the bus deposited me in front of the mall, I quickly hurried inside and made my way towards the tux shop, which of course was on the complete opposite side of the building. I should have just had the bus drop me off down there, but there wasn't much I could do about that now. Still, I had to hurry and get this over with. I _was _the new lead soloist for the Warblers, and if I got this done quickly enough, I could still make it back in time for the last forty-five minutes of rehearsal.

The tuxedo shop was small and congested. I stepped inside and made my way around a few free-standing mannequins towards the sound of voices I heard coming from the back of the store. It sounded like someone else was here getting fitted for a tux.

The first voice was female. "So do you like how this jacket fits, or would you like to try the next size up? Personally, I think you could go either way, but it's whatever feels more comfortable for you."

"I think I'll go with this one. I feel like if I go any bigger, it'll just feel all huge and baggy...this will be fine."

I froze. I knew that voice all too well.

"Blaine?" I asked, stepping out from behind a rack of jackets to see that yes, Blaine was here, and yes, he appeared to be getting fitted for his tux as well.

His eyes widened. "Now if this isn't some kind of strange boyfriend brain chemistry, I don't know what is."

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "You would. But wait. You're...?"

I trailed off and looked him over to answer my own question. Blaine was all tuxed up and looking absolutely beyond handsome. I knew there was no way I would be able to look half as good as he did on prom night.

"I skipped eighth period and came here," he explained. "I thought I'd make it back in time for rehearsal, but I guess not."

The salesgirl who had been measuring Blaine and adjusting the fabric on his jacket suddenly interjected. "Oh! So you two are..."

"Kurt's my boyfriend," Blaine said with a proud smile that made my heart race.

"Oh," she said again, sounding slightly disappointed. It was painstakingly obvious that she'd had a little crush on Blaine. I had to admit, she had good taste. "Well, you two will look amazing together. Are you getting fitted today, too?"

It took me a second to realize that she was talking to me. "No," I said without thinking.

Blaine looked confused. "Then why'd you come...?"

"I can't get fitted into the outfit I'm wearing to prom, with my prom date right here watching me," I explained. "Hurry up and get changed. We can go shopping. I don't really feel like going back for rehearsal."

"Me neither." He turned to the salesgirl. "I like this one. I think I'll take it, even though he's already seen me in it so it won't have as much effect on prom night." He winked at me.

He went back into the dressing room to get changed, and I was left stranded in awkward silence with the salesgirl for a few minutes. Thankfully, it didn't take him too long, and he quickly paid for the tux and carried it out of the store in a garment bag.

"So," he said with a smile, reaching for my hand as we strolled through the mall, "where to?"

"I don't know," I told him. "Wherever you want. I wasn't planning on buying anything but a tuxedo, and that's not exactly happening today."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "I could have like, gone somewhere else while you tried it on."

"I know, but you would have known I was doing it, and it would have lost some of the magic for when you see me on prom night. With you, it was kind of unexpected, so I didn't really have a choice of whether I saw you or not."

"You think about things too much. It's adorable." He paused for a moment so he could kiss my forehead.

"I'm not thinking too much, I'm thinking logically. Let's go get something to eat."

A few minutes later, we were sitting across from each other at a table in the food court, giant pretzels in hand.

"I meant to ask you," I said with my mouth partially full as I swallowed a particularly large bite. I wasn't a huge fan of greasy junk food, but these things were too damn good. "Have you made any more big plans for prom yet?"

"And what makes you think I'd tell you?" Blaine asked in response, looking hotter than anybody simply eating a pretzel had a right to be.

"Because prom is the same day as my birthday, and I have a right to know," I countered with a smile.

Blaine's eyes went wide as he considered this. "Oh my god. I...I can't believe I didn't realize that. _Shit_." He sucked in a breath through his teeth. "May 27...you're right. I can't believe I didn't put those two together. I am the worst boyfriend ever. I-"

"Blaine," I said, interrupting his ramblings. "You are _not_ the worst boyfriend ever, okay?" I smiled and reached across the table to give his hand a reassuring squeeze. "You are the _best _boyfriend ever. And I know that whatever you have planned, it's going to make that night the most incredible prom and birthday ever, and I'm never going to forget it for the rest of my life. Okay?"

"Are you sure?" he asked uncertainly. "I feel really bad."

I kept smiling. "I am _positive_."

To exemplify this, I reached out and grabbed his Dalton uniform tie to pull him closer to me across the table. I kissed him right in the middle of the food court, ignoring the fact that people were probably shooting us disapproving stares. I'd stopped caring what other people thought a long time ago.

…

Late that night, I stared blankly into my open closet, eyes skimming over various fabrics and colors and textures.

I had decided to skip the whole tuxedo thing altogether. Every single guy there would be wearing one, and I'd never enjoyed blending in with the crowd. I needed something completely unique and original, the likes of which Dalton Academy had possibly never seen before. I had just the thing; I knew it was in here somewhere...

For the next forty-five minutes or so, I spread various potential outfits out on my bed, frowning and mumbling things to myself as I moved around pants and jackets and bow ties. It took me a while, but eventually I found a combination I loved. I was practically bursting out of my skin with excitement as I tried on the whole ensemble and stepped in front of the mirror to look at myself.

The jacket was completely vintage, but that's what I loved about it. The tall black boots were completely different than what most guys wore to prom. The pants were tight and partially hidden under a black kilt.

Yes, that's right, ladies and gentlemen. Kurt Hummel is wearing a kilt to prom.

I smiled and did a little twirl in front of my mirror, feeling like the most fabulous bitch in the world.


	41. Chapter 41

This took forever and it's the complete opposite of what happened at McKinley's prom but whatever.

And July 16 is my birthday so I wanted to make something epic happen on that day. May 27 is Chris Colfer's birthday. xD 

* * *

Chapter 41

I woke up the morning of May 27 (my birthday, prom day, whatever floats your boat) to a pair of soft lips kissing my forehead.

That was strange. Nice, but strange. Blaine and I hadn't slept together last night. What was he doing in here?

Slowly, I let my eyes drift open. Blaine was sitting on the edge of my bed. His fingers were gently stroking my hair and he wore a soft smile on his lips.

"Happy birthday," he whispered.

I attempted to smile, still half asleep, and drowsily reached up to pull him down into a kiss.

"How'd you get in here?" I murmured.

Blaine laughed. "You are horrible at remembering to lock your door. I just chanced it. Sure enough, it was unlocked." He reached over and grabbed a tray of food off my nightstand and handed it to me. "I brought you breakfast."

My heart was touched. Breakfast in bed. And just when I thought he couldn't get any sweeter.

"Blaine Anderson, you are the sweetest boy on the planet," I told him with a tiny smile as I picked up the plastic knife and fork and started cutting the stack of blueberry waffles into edible-sized pieces. "Thank you."

"Anything for _my_ boy." He leaned forward and pressed a kiss against my cheek. "You get your present when you're done eating," he added.

"Blaine, you already have a whole bunch of amazing things planned for prom tonight. Or so you tell me. You didn't have to get me anything else."

"Oh, but I wanted to." He winked. "You deserve it."

"Or so you think," I countered.

And we continued to argue playfully in that way as I finished all the food, then set the empty tray aside. Blaine took it and set it on the floor so it was out of the way, and when he sat back up he had a present wrapped in shiny red paper in hand. I imagined he must have had it on the floor next to my bed for the time being.

"It's not much," he explained as he handed it to me. "Just a little something."

I smiled in anticipation as I tore off the pretty paper and tossed it to the floor. Once it was all gone, I lifted off the top of the white cardboard box underneath it. Inside was a folded piece of paper and another much smaller box.

I picked up the paper first and unfolded it. The front was simple, _Kurt _with a little heart drawn after it, but the words on the inside left me breathless.

_My dearest Kurt,_

_I sat down to write this out, and I'm drawing a total blank. I don't even know where to begin. I can tell you that as I write this, my heart is beating relentlessly for you and my brain is working in overdrive trying to think of perfect words to say to a perfect boy._

_I guess I'll start off by stating, once again, that you have saved me. Multiple times, actually. We have been through so much together but no matter what, you've stuck with me through it all. You were patient and kind as you helped me get my memory back after the attack over winter break. You saved my life that night when my own father pulled a gun on me. You reminded me that I should be proud of who I am and know that there's nothing wrong with me. You make me feel beautiful, and that means a lot because you are so beautiful, inside and out._

_I am learning to accept the fact that I will never remember what amazing thing I did that caused me to end up with someone like you, but that's okay. I'm so lucky and honored to think that you saw something in me that made you decide you wanted to be with me. I may never know what that something is, but I'm thankful for it. I am absolutely crazy, beyond head over heels in love with you and knowing that you reciprocate my love gives my heart the biggest thrill in the world._

_I love you, Kurt. I love you so much. You are amazing and beautiful and perfect and incredible and all things good. I guess all that's left to say is that I hope you have a birthday that is just as amazing and beautiful and perfect and incredible as you are, and I can't wait to take you to prom tonight and see that gorgeous smile lighting up your face. Enjoy your seventeenth, and thank you for letting me be a part of your life._

_I love you with every beat of my heart._

_Blaine._

By the end of the note, I was blinking rapidly to hold back tears. Blaine noticed.

"Just open the other box," he said gently.

I nodded and swallowed the tear-induced lump in my throat as I reached inside and pulled out the smaller, black box.

My heart started pounding. There was only one thing that this resembled. I pulled back the lid.

Inside was a gorgeous silver ring: a platinum band with three small diamonds set into it. I gasped and my teary eyes flickered over to meet his gaze for a second. "Blaine..."

He took my free hand, the one that wasn't holding the ring box, in both of his and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Kurt, I know we're very young, but I want to marry you someday," he said in a low, serious voice. I trembled. "Now if it will ever be legally possible for us to get married, only time will tell. But even so, I want to be with you forever. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Nobody can stop us from doing that."

He took the ring out and set the small box aside. "This is a promise ring," he explained. "It symbolizes that I will always be true and faithful to you, and that I will love you until my heart stops beating. I have one, too."

I glanced at his hand and for the first time I noticed that he was wearing an identical band around his ring finger.

"If you think it's pathetic and don't want to wear it, that's fine. I completely understand. But I do ask that you keep the ring and let it serve as a reminder."

"It's not pathetic," I choked out. My voice was small. "It's beautiful."

"So you'll wear it?" he asked hopefully.

I nodded. I knew that if I tried to say any more words I would turn into a sobbing, blubbering mess.

Blaine simply bowed his head humbly and kissed my hand. Then he looked up again to meet my eyes.

"I love you, Kurt Hummel," he said softly as he slipped the ring onto my finger. Chills and sparks and adrenaline raced through my entire body.

And all I could do once the ring was securely on my finger was cup his face in both of my hands and pull him into an emotional kiss.

"Thank you," I gasped as we pulled away from the kiss. "It really is beautiful."

"Just like you," Blaine said gently, giving me another kiss. He pulled away quickly and when he did, his face had brightened. "I almost forgot. Here."

He reached up behind me to grab a brown teddy bear that had been sitting up by my pillow. "It wouldn't fit in the box, so I just put it up there. I can't believe you didn't notice it. I made it at Build-a-Bear."

"Oh my god, how adorable is that," I giggled as I took the bear and looked it over. It was decked out in a cute little blazer and tie that was probably supposed to resemble Dalton's. "Thank you so much." I leaned forward and gave Blaine a hug.

He laughed. "Don't hug me, hug the bear."

I did as he told me and squeezed it against my chest.

"I love you, Kurt!" Blaine's prerecorded voice said from within the bear.

"And I thought it couldn't get any cuter." I smiled and pressed the bear's stomach to hear it again.

Blaine shrugged one shoulder. "I just figured that since you gave me Kurtie Bear, I wanted to get you a bear, too."

"Now I need to name it." I thought for a second. "Blanie bear?"

Blaine made a face. "Please don't."

"Yeah, you're right. Doesn't work. I'll think of something." I smiled and gave him another hug. "Thank you, again."

He hugged me back for a second before pulling away. "There's one more present," he said, handing me the box that had contained the note and ring.

I raised one eyebrow as I peered into it. "It's empty, Blaine," I said flatly.

"That's what you think." He smirked and reached over to pull out a square piece of cardboard that had concealed the real bottom of the box. "I gave it a false bottom. Look in there now."

I looked into the box again and found myself staring at two small, rectangular pieces of paper. Very carefully, I reached in and pulled them out, then made some kind of obnoxious squealing noise after reading what they said.

"Oh my god, Blaine!" I squeaked, throwing my arms around his neck. "You got me Gaga tickets!"

"I did," Blaine laughed as he hugged me back. "She's doing a few more Monster Ball shows this summer, including one in Columbus. I thought it would be fun to go."

I pressed my lips against his cheek in an obnoxiously superfluous kiss. "I loooooove you."

"I love you, too," Blaine giggled. "I knew I couldn't beat New York, but I hope you like this anyway."

"This is amazing," was all I could say as I glanced at the ring on my finger, then at the bear, then at the Lady Gaga tickets in my other hand, then back to the ring.

"_You're_ amazing," Blaine murmured as he kissed my forehead. "I'm glad you like it."

"I love it," I corrected him.

He rolled his eyes but kept smiling. "And don't forget...there's still more surprises coming your way tonight."

…

I had absolutely no idea what I was in for.

I'd finished getting ready for prom an hour ago and had been pacing around my room ever since. I was nervous, but even more than that, I was excited. I had an obnoxious amount of butterflies in my stomach that didn't feel like they were going away anytime soon. Today had already been the most amazing birthday ever and I didn't see how it was possible that it could get any better, but at the same time I knew Blaine would somehow find a way to make that possible.

There was a sudden knock on my door which made me stop pacing. Blaine was here. I took a few deep breaths and wiped my clammy palms on my kilt before striding across the room towards the door.

When I swung it open, nobody was there. The hallway was dark; someone must have adjusted the dimmer switch or something.

"Blaine?" I called tentatively.

No answer. I glanced to the left, to the right, then for whatever reason I looked up, then I looked down.

Oh.

There was a trail of rose petals on the ground that led from my door further on down the hall. I bit my lip to try and contain my excited smile as I pulled my door shut behind me and started following the path.

This was impressive, I thought. He must have gotten everybody on our floor to stay in their rooms for the time being; the hallway was completely deserted. My heart had turned into a metronome, ticking away quickly inside my chest.

The trail of petals stopped at the elevator at the end of the hall. I couldn't see him right away in the semi-darkness but Blaine was there, waiting for me.

"Kurt," he whispered, stepping forward to take my hands as I approached him. He looked me up and down, smiling when he realized what I was wearing. "Wow."

"You like it?" I asked with a hopeful smile, slipping my hands out of his so I could do a little twirl.

"It's unexpected, but I love it." He returned my smile. "You look beautiful."

"So do you." I didn't know which part of him to look at first. He was flawless. "I mean, you always look perfect but tonight..."

There was no coherent way for me to finish that sentence, so I didn't even bother.

"Come on." He took my hand and pressed the button for the elevator. "I've got another surprise waiting for you at dinner."

…

Having a car on campus was a privilege reserved only for seniors whose parents signed a consent form allowing them to do so, and so Blaine drove me to the restaurant in his spiffy vintage Mustang. He apologized for not having rented a limo but explained he'd decided he'd rather spend the money on another part of my surprise that I would see later tonight, so I told him it was no problem. In fact, I liked not having a limo. For some reason, the fact that it was just the two of us without the company of a stuffy chauffeur made it seem even more special.

"We're here!" Blaine announced as he pulled into a parking lot.

I glanced out the window and couldn't help but gasp when I caught sight of my favorite restaurant.

"Blaine. Oh my god. The Cheesecake Factory. You did not."

"I did." He smirked as he parked the car and unbuckled his seatbelt. "It's your birthday _and_ prom, I figured I could spoil you a little bit," he added with a wink.

I rolled my eyes as he walked around the car and opened my door for me. "It makes me sick to my stomach to think about how much money you're spending on me tonight," I deadpanned.

"You're welcome." As we started making our way across the parking lot hand in hand, Blaine reached over to mess up my hair.

I swatted his hand away but smiled. "Thank you. Really. Tonight is _perfect_."

"Just wait for it," he said vaguely as we stepped into the restaurant.

He told the hostess he was here under a reservation for Anderson, and she led the two of us back through the entire restaurant to a private room at the back. That was strange, I thought, why did we get an entire dining room for just the two of us?

That's when I realized that there weren't just two of us. Six chairs - two of them empty - surrounded the single table in the room. The other four were occupied by my dad, Carole, Finn and Lisa.

"Watching your parents get all excited over prom is part of the tradition," Blaine explained with a laugh as they all jumped up from the table and started enthusiastically showering me with hugs and birthday greetings. "Plus, it's your birthday. I couldn't let you _not_ see your family."

"You boys look so handsome," Carole gushed as we started to take our seats.

Lisa, however, jumped in to stop us before we were completely seated. "Wait! We have to get pictures!"

I now understood the significance of the private, out-of-the-way dining room. It would have been obnoxious to start taking pictures in the middle of the restaurant and get in everybody's way. Blaine and I took turns pinning on each other's boutonnieres (I had been keeping his in the large pocket of my jacket) and then we posed together for a massive amount of pictures before our waiter finally showed up five minutes later to ask if we would like anything to drink.

Dinner was nice. I was glad Blaine had thought to invite my parents and brother and his mom, because I couldn't have imagined spending my birthday without my family and I knew he wanted to see his now-very-pregnant mother at some point before the baby came along. I made the mistake of leaving the table for a few minutes to use the restroom at one point. A few minutes after I returned to the table, a whole bunch of waiters and waitresses gathered around our table and serenaded me with some birthday song that involved a lot of clapping. Someone at our table - my money was on Finn or Blaine - must have told the waiter it was my birthday while I was gone. But I got a free slice of cheesecake out of it, which I shared with Blaine, so it wasn't so bad.

When we had finished eating, Blaine (who, to my amazement, had picked up the tab for the entire meal, all six of us) and I said our goodbyes to our families and headed off on our way. I couldn't wait to see what the rest of the night had in store.

…

I had only been to two dances at Dalton, including this one, but it didn't take me long to realize that the chaperones here at prom were much more uptight than those that had been at the Valentine's dance. Then, people had been grinding all up into each other without a care in the world. Tonight, I saw three couples get kicked out for "inappropriate" dancing within the first ten minutes of our arrival, the first being David and his girlfriend Vivenne.

They were playing lots of slow songs, which was good. I loved being able to hold Blaine close to me and move with him to the music in our own little world, neither of us giving a damn what the rest of the world thought.

As the soft opening beat of Can't Help Falling in Love played through the speakers and Elvis Presley's soothing bass voice reverberated through the room, Blaine took me in his arms and we began to dance.

"Thank you so much for this," I whispered to him. "For everything."

The glowing lights of the room made his eyes sparkle. "I just wanted to make sure you had the most perfect birthday ever," he said softly.

"It is," I reassured him. "Nothing will ever be able to top this."

The corner of his mouth turned up into a little half-smile. "Well, I guess I'll take that as a challenge to outdo myself next year."

"Don't worry about it," I sighed as I tightened my arms around his waist and pulled him closer. "I'm going to spend the rest of my birthdays with you, and they're all going to be perfect."

Blaine pursed his lips as he considered this.

"Challenge accepted," was all he said before he leaned in to kiss me.

We broke the kiss some time later with smiles on both of our faces.

"You know, Kurt," he said quietly, "Dalton doesn't elect prom court, but if we did, you'd win Prom King in a landslide."

I returned his smile. "But there are usually two elite royals...I would need somebody else to be my King with me."

"Then it's settled," Blaine declared just loudly enough so that I could hear. "I hereby proclaim Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson as Prom King and King. I should have bought you a crown."

"Don't worry about it," I laughed quietly. "We've got each other. That's better than a lousy crown, don't you think?"

Blaine nodded. "I concur," he said, and he kissed me again.

This kiss was longer than the previous one had been, soft and sweet and full of passionate emotion. When we pulled away, Blaine kept his gaze locked on mine as he softly sang the last few lines of the song along with Elvis:

_Take my hand, take my whole life too  
_

_For I cant help falling in love with you_

_For I cant help falling in love with you_

I gave him one more soft kiss as the song faded out. "I love you, Blaine."

"I love you too," he said, then laughed as a new, more upbeat song started pounding through the room.

"Really?" he shouted over the opening beat of Usher's More. "You go from Elvis to _this_?"

I laughed. "Come on, Mr. Top 40. Let's dance."

And we did. Well, we started to, anyway, before I caught sight of my phone lighting up from within my blazer pocket.

I pulled my phone out and read the new text Mercedes had just sent me: _come open the back door!_

Huh. That was weird. Was she here or something? Still, I showed Blaine the text with a confused look on my face. He shrugged and pulled me through the crowd towards the back door that led outside.

The second I pushed open the door, sure enough, Mercedes was right there waiting for me. She squealed and attacked me with a bone-crushing bear hug. I laughed and hugged her back before realizing that the rest of the New Directions girls were in the doorway behind her, wearing the dresses I'd helped them pick out.

"You guys!" I shouted. "What are you doing here!"

Wes, who had been standing at the punch bowl nearby, yelled, "She doesn't even go here!" a la Damian from _Mean Girls_. I shot him a death glare.

"We know!" Rachel exclaimed cheerfully as she gave me a hug, then Blaine. "We're crashing!"

"We wanted you to see how hot we look in the dresses you helped us find," Santana said breezily, forgoing hugs in favor of a pat on the ass for each of us as she stepped through the door. Brittany scurried after her with a shy little wave directed for Blaine and me.

"Plus, we wanted to surprise you for your birthday," Lauren sighed unenthusiastically. "Happy birthday."

I couldn't believe this. What a nice surprise. "Are you guys staying? Hurry up and get in here before one of the chaperones catches you!" Quinn and Tina were bringing up the rear, so I quickly herded them through the door and pulled it shut behind him.

"Yeah, we're staying," Brittany said. "Are there any more cute dolphin boys here other than just you guys?"

Blaine tried but failed to give me a politely confused look as he mouthed, _What?_

"Brittany, you and I play on the same team as the dolphin boys." Santana rolled her eyes and grabbed the dimwit blonde's hand. "Come on, let's go dance."

I turned to the rest of the group with a smile as they headed off. "Well, if I were you guys, I would get out there and try to mingle. I know a few handsome guys who came stag." I winked and took Blaine's hand. "We're gonna go dance, too. You all look _amazing_, by the way."

The girls all giggled and followed Blaine and I out to the dance floor, where we began to grind shamelessly to More, having forgotten about the strict protocol that had been placed on dancing. Miraculously, we didn't get caught, but when More faded out and Rihanna's S&M started up, we couldn't help but get a little freaky.

_Feels so good being bad  
_

_There's no way I'm turning back  
_

_Now the pain is my pleasure 'cause nothing could measure_

I smiled seductively at Blaine as I turned so my back was up against his chest. He put his hands on my waist and slowly began grinding up against me, creating the kind of friction against my ass that made my cock spring to hardness.

Oh, okay. I had a boner in the middle of the dance floor.

That was new.

Still, once we got started I couldn't stop. As the chorus began I began moving with him, grinding back against him in time to the pounding beat. The chorus repeated and I couldn't take it any longer: my hands were on the ground, and Blaine was shamelessly thrusting against my ass.

_Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it_

_Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it_

_Sticks and stones may break my bones_

_But chains and whips excite me_

"Get it, Blaine!" Santana called with a whistle. I stole a quick glance up to see that she had stopped dancing with Brittany in order to watch us. In fact, a lot of people had stopped dancing in order to watch the most sexual act that had been committed on the dance floor thus far.

I was getting really into this. In fact, I had forgotten all about the fact that the dance was being monitored by uptight chaperones until I heard the voice of one.

"Excuse me, boys?"

I glanced up and Blaine stopped grinding as we both looked to see who the voice had come from. It was a teacher I didn't recognize, but that didn't stop me from getting that _oh, shit_feeling in my stomach.

"I'm going to have to ask you both to leave," she said sternly. "We do not tolerate that type of inappropriate dancing here."

The music still pounded through the room, but the people who had been surrounding us had fallen silent. The New Directions girls all stared on with stunned expressions as we were escorted through the crowd and out of the room altogether.

Neither Blaine nor I said a word until we were alone in front of the school, on the front steps that led down into the parking lot. Then we glanced at each other and burst out into laughter.

"Please tell me that didn't just happen," Blaine gasped, holding onto me for support. He was laughing so hard he could barely stand up straight. "Please tell me we did not just get kicked out of prom for grinding."

"Oh, that happened, we just got kicked out of prom for grinding," I somehow managed to say through my own laughter. "We _would_."

"Oh my god, I don't even know if I can drive," Blaine choked out as he attempted to collect himself. "But I guess I should take you to your last surprise of the night."

"Are you sure?" I asked him. "We can...wait...if you want. Until we're done...," I burst out in more giggles, "laughing."

Blaine shook his head. "I don't think that's ever going to happen. Come on."

He took my hand and led me to his car. "Might as well live it up even more for the rest of the night," he commented as he turned on the antique radio and rolled down all the windows.

"Oh my god," I breathed as I realized what song was playing - Gaga's Edge of Glory. "Perfect song. And we're seeing her this summer."

"July 16," Blaine reminded me excitedly as he turned out of Dalton's parking lot onto the main road. "I don't know, Kurt, I've always been a Katy Perry guy, but you've already got me pretty excited for this."

"Gaga is infectious," I stated simply, and reached over to turn the radio up. Blaine and I both sang along loudly, but neither of us off-key. I hadn't felt so alive in a long time.

_It's hard to feel the rush,_

_To rush the dangerous_

_I'm gonna run right to, to the edge with you_

_Where we can both fall in love_

We turned onto a freeway entrance ramp right as the chorus began. I didn't care about the fact that we had just gotten kicked out of prom anymore. All I cared about was the fact that I was having the best fucking birthday in the world and I was the luckiest man alive.

_I'm on the edge of glory_

_and I'm hanging on a moment of truth,_

_Out on the edge of glory,_

_and I'm hanging on a moment with you,_

_I'm on the edge_

_The edge, the edge, the edge,_

_The edge, the edge, the edge_

_Out on the edge of glory_

_And I'm hanging on a moment with you_

_I'm on the edge with you_

I never wanted the song to end, but of course, it had to. Thankfully we didn't have to drive for much longer before Blaine got off the freeway and pulled into the parking lot of what was, to my knowledge, the largest luxury hotel in central Ohio.

"I know it's a cliché," he told me as he parked the car, "but I'm all for tradition, including the tradition of consummating prom night in an expensive hotel room."

"Blaine, you _seriously_ didn't have to spend so much money on me," I sighed as he helped me out of the car.

"Well, I had a couple thousand bucks saved up in my college fund," he told me as we made our way into the massive front lobby. "Since I got a full ride, I figured I don't really need that money to pay for school. I figured I could spend a couple hundred bucks on you tonight and use the rest over the course of my freshman year to pay for flights back home so I can visit you."

I smiled as we stepped up to the front desk. "I love a man with a plan."

I kept a hold of his hand as we got checked in and pretended to ignore the wary stare of the desk clerk. She slid the room key across the counter to Blaine without saying a word and turned away before he could even finish saying "Thank you."

"I took the liberty of sneaking into your room earlier and packing some stuff for you," he explained as we boarded the elevator. "Just some clothes for tomorrow. I came here and put all our stuff in the room earlier this afternoon. You don't mind, do you?"

"You're probably the only person in the world who I would tolerate snooping through my drawers," I joked as the elevator doors slid shut, then turned to give him a hug once we were alone. "And in case I haven't said it 500 times, thank you."

"You're so welcome," he murmured, kissing the top of my head. "You deserved to have a perfect night."

"I loved every minute of it," I reassured him as we stepped out of the elevator and stopped at the door to the room right across from it, which apparently was ours. "I...I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough."

"Don't even worry about that," he said softly as he slid the key card into the door and pulled it open. He kept it propped with his foot as he picked me up bridal style and carried me into the dark, silent room.

Once inside, he laid me down gently on the massive king bed and placed a gentle kiss on my lips before turning to the nightstand and picking up a lighter. He flicked it so a flame appeared and made his way around the room, lighting candle after candle. There must have been candles on every available flat surface. It was beautiful.

"Perfect end to a perfect night with a perfect boy," Blaine murmured as he set the lighter down after lighting all the candles and climbed on top of me.

I sighed and melted into his kiss, but for a second my eyes flickered open. I glanced up at the ceiling and found myself staring at my own reflection.

"There's a mirror on the ceiling," I breathed. _Way to state the obvious, Hummel_.

"I know," Blaine said quietly. "I...I wanted to see what we look like while we make love. If it makes you uncomfortable I can go downstairs and ask for another roo-..."

I silenced him with a finger pressed to his lips.

"I think that's beautiful," I whispered softly, slipping his tuxedo jacket off his shoulders. "We're staying here."

Within no time, the rest of our clothes were gone as well. I couldn't help but stare in awe up at the mirror whenever I got a chance as our naked flesh rubbed together - his slightly tanned, mine pale. I couldn't recall ever seeing anything that looked more perfect. We looked like we were made for each other.

He grabbed a bottle of lube that he must have placed on the bedside table earlier and slicked up his fingers before preparing me lovingly, just as he always did. By this point we'd done this so many times that it barely hurt anymore, but I found it sweet that he took every measure necessary to cause me the leas amount of pain possible.

When I was sufficiently stretched out, he lubed up his cock and began to make love to me.

It was beautiful. It was amazing. It was perfect. Well, sex with Blaine was always all those things, but there was just something about the fact that it was, as he'd described it, the perfect end to a perfect night with a perfect boy. There were no words to describe what it felt like to be with him in that way. I wanted him inside me forever.

When it was over, Blaine gave me a kiss as he gently pulled out of me. As usual, there was a slight pang of emptiness that seeped through me as soon as he did this. We both lay on our backs, chests and stomachs splattered with my come, trying to catch our breath and staring at our naked bodies in the mirror on the ceiling.

Without saying a word, Blaine rolled over so he was spooning behind me and took me in his arms. He pulled me against his chest and neither of us spoke for a very long time.

"I'm graduating next weekend," he said after what could have been hours of silence.

As happy as I was for him, hearing that reminder broke my heart. I couldn't imagine Dalton without Blaine.

"I know," I whispered. "I hope I made your last few weeks of required schooling enjoyable."

Blaine laughed as he kissed the side of my neck. "Kurt, you made my last _year_ of required schooling enjoyable," he said with a quiet laugh. "I just want to thank you for that. And thank you for just..._everything_. And I want you to know that even while I'm gone at college in New York, I will _never _forget about you. I'll still love you. I always will. And I want us to stay together."

"Wasn't that the plan all along?" I asked as I smiled up at him in the dim candlelight.

"It was, but I just wanted to remind you." He gave me a sweet kiss on the lips. "I'll never stop loving you, Kurt."

"And I'll never stop loving _you_," I sighed. "Thank you. Again. Tonight was unbelievable, Blaine. And I can't wait to go see Gaga in July."

Blaine gave me another kiss before responding with the most simple yet powerful statement if there ever was one.

"_I _can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."


	42. Chapter 42

Yes, at the end of this it says "End of Part 1." I realize that. I was, after all, the one who put it there. Let me explain.

This is the last chapter from Kurt's point of view. Everything from here on out will be from Blaine's perspective. I have some ideas for the rest of the story that will only really work if they're told from his POV, because a lot of it will deal with him being away at college and things like that. There won't be nearly as many chapters in Part 2, and they may be spread out a bit more time-wise (if that made any sense). I'm still going to continue it as part of this same story, so Chapter 43 will be the beginning of Part 2. It'll most likely pick up somewhere in the summer before Blaine starts college.

I apologize for not having planned this out better, but after thinking about what I want to have happen in the rest of the story, I realized that telling it this way will be easier. I should have thought it out some more, and I'm sorry for randomly switching perspectives on you guys like this.

On a completely random note, there is a very special new character you'll meet in this chapter. :) And I suck at thinking of names for OCs so I gave him or her the most unimaginative name ever.

Apologies in advance for any typos. I proofread and tried to catch them all, but it's past 1am so yeah. 

* * *

Chapter 42

They say time flies when you're having fun and when I look back on that school year, I realize that it all seems like a wonderful blur. That whole year was absolutely incredible. Yes, I'm aware of the fact that my boyfriend and I were attacked and he was almost murdered by his own father, but the fact that he and I stuck together through it all is what made it so amazing. Even through the not-so-great moments, when you stopped to think about it, Kurt Hummel had a pretty good year.

"How do I look?" Blaine asked as he stepped out into the hallway outside his dorm room while I was waiting. He did a little twirl so as to let me see his cap-and-gown getup from all angles. "Ridiculous, right?"

"Yes," Wes called flatly from back inside their room.

"You should talk," Blaine joked without missing a beat. He glanced into the room and caught sigh of Wes standing in front of the small mirror, struggling with pulling his too-small mortarboard down onto his head. "Besides, are _you _my boyfriend?"

"You wish," Wes cracked sarcastically. He pushed up the sleeve of his navy blue graduation gown and flexed his skinny bicep. "I mean, _look _at these guns." Wes was about the least athletic person I knew, save for myself.

Blaine shot him an unapologetic smile and wrapped his arms around me. "Thanks but no thanks, Wes. I've already got the sexiest boy on the planet."

I blushed. "You're one to talk," I told him, smiling as I adjusted his collar a little bit. "You're probably the only guy in the senior class who can rock this and still look completely gorgeous."

"Yeah, well thanks, Kurt. That just did wonders for my self esteem." Wes stuck out his tongue at me as he turned away from the mirror and stepped out into the hallway with us. "Well, let's go."

As Blaine turned around to pull the door shut, he stopped and stared into the room for a moment. It was completely empty. The walls and shelves were bare; everything was packed into the suitcases and boxes that were stacked neatly in the middle of the room.

"I know I'm going to be coming back up here one more time after the ceremony to get all my stuff," Blaine said as he stared into the empty room, "but it's just strange to think that it's _over_."

"This is...weird," Wes mumbled in agreement.

I smiled at both of them and took Blaine's hand, lacing my fingers between his. "You guys should be proud of yourselves," I told them. "This is the most prestigious school in the state, maybe even the whole country, and you're graduating from it."

"I couldn't be happier that I'm _leaving_," Wes sighed blissfully as we closed the door to their room and began walking down the hall towards the elevator. Our floor was in a frenzy: seniors in their caps and gowns, freshmen and sophomores and my fellow juniors saying some final goodbyes to them before everyone headed down to the commencement ceremony.

"I mean, it's a good school, I'm not gonna lie," Wes was saying. "I learned a lot here. But I'm not going to miss the uniforms, and I'm not going to miss the no girls thing, and I'm not going to miss the massive amounts of homework."

"The homework load doesn't get any less massive in college, I've heard," Blaine commented as he pressed the button for the elevator.

"Blaine?" Wes asked as the doors parted for us and we stepped on board. "Can you like not bring that up? I'm just happy to be getting out of here right now."

Blaine shrugged. "I'm just saying. But on the bright side, we're used to having a ton of work so it'll be easier for us to adjust."

Wes rolled his eyes. "Easy for you to say, Mr. Valedictorian."

Blaine blushed. "Don't remind me. I don't want to think about making that speech."

"You're going to do _fine_," I reassured him, squeezing his hand as we stepped off the elevator and into the downstairs main lobby of the dorm building where all our families were waiting. "Just follow the notecards you made and if all else fails, stick to the age-old trick of picturing the audience in their underwear." For such an amazing performer, Blaine was terrified of making plain old speeches.

"Yeah, about that," Blaine said. "First of all, the _only _person I would want to imagine in their underwear is you, and that would get me all hot and bothered and I wouldn't be able to make the speech. Second of all, I don't have the notecards anymore. I ripped them up because the speech sucked."

I stared at him in disbelief. "Are you insane."

He shrugged one shoulder. "Apparently."

"You're just winging it?"

"Yup."

I opened my mouth to respond but didn't have time to get any actual words out, due to the fact that Wes caught sight of his parents and ran off to catch up with them at the same time that my family and Lisa and the rest of the Anderson relatives saw Blaine and me.

It was like my birthday at Cheesecake Factory all over again, except this time all of Blaine's grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins were here which made for a lot more people. Lots and lots of hugs and congratulations were consolidated into the few minutes we spent in the lobby with the rest of the families before someone decided it would be a good idea to move outside to take pictures, to avoid the craziness of the overcrowded room.

So we did so. Blaine took some pictures with his very-pregnant mother, then with his relatives, then got a few with me. The whole time, my dad was looking at me with what I now knew as his I-don't-know-how-to-convey-these-emotions-I'm-feeling-so-I'll-just-stay-stoic look. I knew he was thinking about how at this time next year, it would be my turn.

After a sufficient amount of pictures had been taken, we decided it was about time to start making our way into the historic Great Hall where the ceremony would take place. Once inside, I gave Blaine a quick but passionate kiss before he went off to get lined up with the other graduates and I followed our group to our assigned seats.

Lisa frowned down at her baby bump once we were seated. "As long as he or she doesn't decide to come right in the middle of the ceremony, I think I'll be okay."

"Oh, don't say that, now it'll happen," Carole joked. "Mine is almost worse...I was at my sister's wedding rehearsal when Finn decided to come along. They had to postpone the wedding until the next day because I was the maid of honor. Finn likes to brag to everyone in our family that he almost ruined Aunt Cathy's wedding." She glanced over at Finn, who grinned sheepishly.

My dad smirked. "Kurt had pretty good timing," he boasted, and I sunk into my chair and thanked Grilled Cheesus that Blaine wasn't around to hear the Tales Of My Birth. "My wife and I were relaxing at home watching _The Sound of Music_ when her water broke. After he was born, we decided to name him after one of the kids in the movie. She wanted to name him after the oldest von Trapp son, I told her no way was I letting my kid go through life with the name Friedrich. We finally agreed on Kurt, after Friedrich's little brother."

Finn snickered. "Friedrich Hummel."

"Stop it." I stuck my tongue out and punched him lightly on the arm.

"You still managed to end up with the most German-sounding name ever. _Kuuuhhht Hummmmmel_." Finn pronounced my name with the most horrible German accent I'd ever heard.

"_Finnnnnn Hudson! _That sounds Irish!_ Erin Go Bragh _and...stuff!" I trilled in an Irish accent.

"Hudson isn't Irish, it's British," Finn countered. "I think. Or English. What's the difference?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response."

And Finn couldn't say anything to counter that because at that moment, the ceremony began.

It was a very solemn ceremony. The second the graduates started processing in, I immediately started looking for Blaine. It was alphabetical order so he was third from the front, right behind Jacob Aarons and Kyle Aldermann. When I caught sight of Blaine, I resisted the urge to blow him a kiss and settled for a little wave instead. He shot me back a tiny smile as he walked to his seat.

After the headmaster opened the ceremony and gave a short speech, it was time for the valedictorian's address. Blaine made his way up to the stage sans speech, sans preparation, sans notecards. Still, he didn't look nervous at all.

"I would be lying if I said this hasn't been a crazy year for all of us, myself included, but we all made it out alive," Blaine improvised with a small smile. "To the men of Dalton's senior class, I can only say that we should be _so_ proud of ourselves. And that's such an understatement. Each and every single one of us has managed to complete the required curriculum at one of the most prestigious and rigorous academies in the entire country. These past four years may have dragged on for some of you. For others, they may have flown by in a total blur. But those four years have all culminated in this ceremony for which we are gathered today. Still, just because our high school education is ending does _not_mean that this is the end. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

"There's a Latin verb that means 'to begin.' In the infinitive form, it is _committitur_. In French-," he smiled directly at me from the podium, "_commencer_. In Spanish, _comenzar_. Once again, all these words are the infinitive verbs in their respective languages for 'to begin' or 'to start.' Now think of the word 'commencement.' Notice a pattern?"

The crowd nodded collectively. Blaine continued.

"This is not the end," Blaine said again. "This is the commencement. This is the start. This is the beginning. Today is the first day of the rest of our lives. I know for a fact that every single one of us," he gestured to himself and the rest of the cap-and-gown-clad graduates sitting in the front, "has the potential to do amazing things with our lives, and we have that potential _because_ we are graduates of Dalton Academy. Never forget that. Never forget who you are or where you came from." At this point, his confidence than ever. "Because once again, this is _not_ the end. As us kids who took Latin would say, _habemus coeptis_." He smiled before providing the translation. "We've only just begun."

Blaine exited the stage to a thunderous, rousing ovation. I liked to think I was cheering the loudest, but then I was surpassed by Lisa. Apparently she was a cheerleader in high school. Woman can _yell_.

Once Blaine was seated, the salutatorian made his speech. It was very good, but didn't top Blaine's. Then again, nothing probably could.

After that, the actual graduation started. The dean of students stepped up to the podium to read off the name of each graduate, who would be handed their diploma by the headmaster.

"Jacob William Aarons."

I craned my neck towards the front of the room so I could see. Blaine was second in line now as Jacob went up to get his diploma. All I could see of Blaine was the back of his head, but that didn't stop me from staring at him with a huge smile on my face.

"Kyle Andrew Aldermann."

Blaine was at the front now, next in line. I blinked a few times and willed myself not to cry, even if it was just happy tears.

"Blaine Darren Anderson."

We had been instructed to hold our applause until the end, so that each person's name could be heard, so I settled for giving Lisa's hand a gentle squeeze and shooting her a quick smile before returning my attention to Blaine receiving his diploma onstage. The boy we both loved had made it.

This was Dalton's largest graduating class ever - over five hundred students - so naturally the ceremony took a little while. When the last name had been called, the class president went onstage to lead the group in the ceremonial tassel turning. Finally, the headmaster proclaimed something that was drowned out by loud cheers, and a shower of caps rained into the air.

Dalton Academy's Class of 2011 had officially graduated.

…

Blaine's subsequent graduation party was, as Finn put it, "off the chain."

He was one of the only members of the senior class who had actually had their party on the same day as graduation, which enabled a lot of his fellow graduates to be able to attend. Lisa had gotten the whole thing professionally catered by Blaine's favorite sushi place and, bless her heart, had done an amazing job with decorating the entire house and backyard all by her pregnant self.

I smiled as I passed a long table in the living room that was covered with nothing but framed photos. Lisa holding a curly-haired baby. Smiling toddler Blaine. Blaine at about seven or eight years old donning the uniform of the Little League team his parents had signed him up for before realizing that sports were not his forte. Preteen Blaine at a piano recital. Fourteen-year-old Blaine smiling nervously on the first day of his freshman year at the public high school he'd attended before coming to Dalton. Blaine performing at Sectionals. Blaine performing at Regionals. Blaine and I at our pre-prom Cheesecake Factory dinner. And finally, his senior picture.

"You don't need to be looking at that. Those are embarrassing."

Blaine was blushing but smiling as he stepped up beside me and wrapped an arm around my waist. It was almost instinct for him to touch me whenever we were standing close enough. I loved it.

"They're not embarrassing." I rested my head on his shoulder. "They're cute."

"Yeah, you have to say that," he teased, gently maneuvering me around away from the table and out towards the kitchen. "Come on, let's get something to eat."

Blaine unapologetically piled an entire plate high with sushi rolls once we got to the food. "It's my party, and I'm hungry, and I like sushi," he joked when he caught me staring at the immense stack he'd accumulated.

"Thank you!" a sudden voice interrupted us. Said voice belonged to Finn, who reached over Blaine's shoulder and plucked one of the sushi pieces right off his plate. He popped it into his mouth and started chewing, then acknowledged me with his mouth full. "Hey, Friedrich."

I stomped on his foot as he walked away.

"Friedrich?" Blaine asked, looking confused.

I rolled my eyes. "Remember when I told you I was named after Kurt von Trapp from _The Sound of Music_?"

"Yes..."

"Let's just say I came _this_close to being named after his older brother."

Blaine squinted at me and shook his head. "You don't look like a Friedrich. You look like a Kurt."

"Thanks, I guess." I gave him a wry smile as we made our way towards the screen door that led into the backyard. "If I was a girl, I assume I would have been Liesl."

Blaine laughed. "I was named after Blane from _Pretty in Pink_. He spells it differently, though. No _I_. My mom loved that movie and loved that name, but didn't love the way he spelled it."

"That's cool, though," I said. "How we were both named after characters in movies. I wonder what your mom's gonna name this one."

What happened next was the strangest thing. Carole saw Blaine and I entering the backyard and, as if on cue, came running up to us.

"Blaine," she gasped breathlessly, grabbing his arm. "Your mom's water just broke. You've got a new sibling on the way."

…

Baby Anderson sure took a while.

Six hours after we'd had to prematurely end the graduation party and rush to the hospital, Blaine and I were still sitting in the waiting room. It was starting to get dark outside, and Blaine had fallen asleep with his head on my shoulder. Several of his relatives were also in here waiting with us, all of us quietly leafing through magazines. I had been attempting to read, but having Blaine so close to me made it impossible for me to focus on anything but him.

I was just about to drift into sleep myself when one of the nurses came into the room.

"Blaine?" she asked, and I gently shook him awake.

He blinked drowsily a few times. "What's going on?"

I simply smiled and gestured to the nurse.

"Would you like to come meet your little brother?" she asked him.

And that was all it took to get Blaine on his feet. At first I wasn't sure if I should come, too, because it seemed like more of a special family moment, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me up as well. The nurse smiled as she led us back to the room where Lisa was; the rest of Blaine's relatives who had been in the waiting room with us were not far behind.

The door was already open when we got to the room. Lisa looked exhausted but happy, sitting up in the bed with a tiny little blanketed bundle in her arms.

"Blaine," she said softly. "Come say hi to your brother."

"Oh, my god," he whispered, stepping closer so he could peer down at the tiny little person looking up at him from inside the blankets. He looked up and smiled at his mom. "I can't greet him properly if I don't know his name."

"Christopher Everett Paul Anderson," Lisa announced with a smile. "We can call him Chris."

"Hi, Chris," Blaine whispered to the newest member of his family. "I'm Blaine. I'm your big brother. It's so awesome to meet you."

Lisa smiled. "Would you like to hold him?"

I didn't think it was possible for Blaine's smile to grow any bigger, but when his mother made this offer, it somehow did. "Yes, please."

Very carefully, Lisa transferred Chris into Blaine's arms. Once he got the baby situated, Blaine carefully walked over towards me so I could see him.

"This is my boyfriend, Kurt," Blaine explained to Chris, knowing full well that the baby couldn't understand. "You'd better be nice to him, because he'll be your brother-in-law someday and nobody wants drama with the in-laws."

He smiled at his little brother and then looked at me. "But I think you guys will get along just fine," he said to both of us.

I took a long look at Chris. His eyes were open - for the moment, they were blue, just as most newborns' eyes are. I wondered if they would turn the same gorgeous hazel as Blaine's someday. I could already see a slight resemblance between the two, even with Chris being less than half an hour old.

"He looks like you," I said softly to Blaine. "He's gorgeous."

Blaine carefully balanced Chris against his chest with one arm and wrapped the other around my waist.

"I think you'll be a good brother-in-law, don't you?" he murmured to me.

I glanced at the promise ring on my left hand, then looked at Chris, and finally smiled at Blaine.

"I think I will," I said softly in agreement.

Blaine pressed a gentle kiss to Chris's forehead, then placed one on my lips.

"I love you both," he whispered. "I'll always love you both. Forever."

END OF PART 1


	43. Chapter 43

First chapter of part 2! I actually like writing as Blaine a lot more than Kurt, I don't know why. So this was really fun, I enjoyed writing it.

Also, I won't be writing as much over the next few weeks...a week from Tuesday (June 14) I'm going to see Gleeeeee. Yay me. So I'll be in Cleveland a few days for that, and then on the 17th I leave for Hawaii! I'll be there until July 7...haven't decided if I'm bringing my laptop yet, so I may or may not be writing. Even so, I want to get at least one more chapter of this story up before I leave so I'll be working on that now that school's pretty much done, not counting finals. And the only finals I still have to take are chemistry, journalism and Spanish, none of which I'm worried about at all, so I'll probably write instead of study. xD

So yeah. And now I give you...Mr. Blaine Darren Anderson. 

* * *

PART 2

Chapter 43

I have to admit, Wes Patterson deserves a lot of credit for putting up with me the weekend of our college orientation.

His decision to go to NYU had been made slightly last-minute, but he had been accepted into Tisch like me and decided to go and double-major in music and film. It was an interesting combination. When Kurt found out, he'd immediately asked Wes if he planned on directing any soon-to-be-classic movie musicals. Wes had given him one of his signature Wes looks.

But Kurt wasn't here with us, unfortunately. He'd stayed down in Ohio while Wes and I had been here at freshman summer orientation, which consisted of lots of meetings, a campus tour and an overnight stay in our future dorm. Wes and I had chosen each other as roommates, so we'd be rooming together just like at Dalton. I couldn't decide if this had been a good decision just yet.

"So how many more hours?" Wes rolled his eyes as we packed up our suitcases for the flight back to Columbus the morning after orientation.

I did the mental math. "We're leaving for the airport as soon as we're done here. Then there's an hour til our flight leaves. Our flight itself is an hour and fifteen minutes. I'm gonna stop home to see my mom and Chris, maybe unpack a little, then head over to Burt's garage because Kurt's working this afternoon. So about two hours and forty-five minutes until I see him again."

I said this all in a giddy rush like some twelve year old girl gushing about the boy she liked. I didn't even care.

"Great!" Wes said with mock cheerfulness, pulling the zipper on his suitcase closed. "I get to spend the entire flight sitting next to you while you bounce up and down, chanting his name excitedly."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "I haven't seen him since yesterday morning. That's a whole day!"

"God help me when we actually _go _to college and you live here without him." Wes, who wasn't Catholic, crossed himself.

"I'll still be able to text him and call him and Skype him and..."

"Skype? Okay, so can we work out a system? Like you put a tie or a hat or something on the doorknob if Kurt is giving you a striptease on video chat, or vice versa? I don't want to walk in on that and make everything awkward."

"We didn't have to have a system at Dalton, and we were roommates there, too," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but that was when you had Kurt and his single dorm right down the hall at your convenience. I'm just saying."

"Whatever." I unzipped my suitcase and pulled my Cleveland Indians cap out and held it up for Wes to see. "This is going on the doorknob if any compromising Skype sessions are going on. AKA don't come in. Okay?"

Wes laughed. "Dude, you _better _not wear that cap if we go to any Yankee games. I don't want to get shot."

I blinked at the non-sequitur. "Who said anything about Yankee games?"

"I know you, Blaine. You can't expect me to think we're gonna live in New York City for all four years of college without you wanting to go to some baseball games." He hoisted his suitcase off the bed and headed for the door. "Let's get going. I'm sure you want to get home and see _Kuuuuurrrrrt._"

He sang my boyfriend's name teasingly. I purposely stepped on the back of his foot as I shoved the cap down onto my head and grabbed my suitcase. The two of us headed out of the room that would become our home in a few short months.

That meant I only had a few short months left with said boyfriend before I had to move away. I tried not to think about it and instead smiled at the fact that at the present moment, I was just two hours and forty-five minutes away from seeing the love of my life.

…

"I'm home!" I called as I stepped through my front door and deposited my suitcase at the foot of the stairs. "Mom?"

"In here!" she called from the living room, and I made my way towards the sound of her voice. She was sitting on the couch holding Chris, who was sipping white formula from the bottle she held in his mouth. "How did it go?"

"It was okay, but I'm glad I got it over with. I kind of just wanted to get home and see you guys." I collapsed on the couch next to her.

"And Kurt," she said pointedly. My mother knew me way too well.

I rolled my eyes at her but smiled. "And Kurt. I'm gonna head over to see him in a little bit, but I wanted to drop my stuff off here and stop in to see you first."

She smiled and set the bottle on the table beside the couch, then gently wiped Chris's mouth off with the edge of his blanket. "Your brother missed you. You weren't home to sing him to sleep, he screamed and cried the whole night. I don't know what I'm going to do when you go away for real."

I laughed and gently lifted my baby brother out of my mother's arms. For whatever reason, Chris could not go to sleep unless I sang him a lullaby.

"Aww, come on, buddy. Don't do that to Mom," I joked gently as I cradled him against my chest. "A few more months and I'm not gonna be around to sing to you every night."

My mom looked over and studied the two of us for a long time. "He's already starting to look like you."

She was right. His short, dark hair was dark and had a tiny bit of a curl to it already. His eyes were fading from blue into a hazel that was similar to mine.

"We're gonna be those siblings that end up looking exactly like each other, I bet," I told my mom, then smiled at Chris. "I missed you, too," I told him. "I promise I'll come home to see you guys as much as I can, okay?"

My mom leaned over to look at Chris. "But really, he just wants to see Kurt," she stage-whispered to him.

"I do _not_," I insisted, then blushed as I added, "I mean, he's not the only reason I would come home, I really _would _want to see you guys, too."

"You miss him. I can tell." She smiled and gently took Chris back. "Go see your man."

I couldn't contain my excitement now that I had her approval. "Okay!" Before standing up, I leaned over to give her and Chris each a kiss on the cheek. "Love you guys, be back later!"

I grabbed my keys and was off to Hummel's Tire & Lube.

…

The large garage doors were wide open when I arrived, to allow for some ventilation from the sticky summer air. Of course, I spotted Kurt right away. His back was to me and he was bent over the open hood of a black mid-size sedan.

After parking along the curb, I immediately pulled my keys out of the ignition and got out of the car. Kurt hadn't appeared to have heard me, because he was still bent over the car. I stared shamelessly at him for a moment before cupping my hands over my mouth and shouting, "Nice _ass_, Hummel!"

Kurt got adorably flustered and almost hit his head on the open hood of the car as he straightened up and turned around. When his eyes landed on me, his entire face brightened and he took off running towards me.

I held my arms out to him and he jumped excitedly on me as soon as he was close enough, almost knocking me backwards, but I didn't care. His legs were around my waist and his arms were around my neck and all I could do was wrap my arms around him to hold him there, never wanting to let him go ever again.

"Hi," he giggled shyly.

"Hi," I murmured, returning his adorable smile. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," Kurt said softly. He was still smiling as he leaned in to press his soft, sweet lips to mine. I instantaneously melted into the kiss and traced the curve of his full bottom lip with my tongue. I knew it had only been a little over twenty-four hours, but it seemed like a lifetime since I'd last kissed Kurt. I could never have enough of those lips.

Kurt was _still_ smiling when we broke apart, but then again, so was I. His smile was, as always, beautiful. Mine was probably some dopey grin that looked really stupid.

I took a moment to just _look _at him. He was wearing a flannel shirt with the sleeves pushed up under a pair of denim coveralls. His hair was completely devoid of product and his bangs stuck to his sweaty forehead. A black newsboy cap sat on his head, and somehow he'd managed to get a few streaks of black motor oil smudged onto his face. He looked so unbelievably gorgeous that I couldn't stand it.

Kurt jumped down off of me. "Ew, I'm sorry. I'm all sweaty and disgusting. I just got a little excited when I saw you."

"You're not disgusting," I told him, leaning my forehead against his and wrapping my arms around his waist. "You're _hot_."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Not in the way you think. It really is stifling out here." He slipped out of my embrace and took my hand to lead me back to the car he'd been working on. "At least I'm almost done fixing this one up, and then my dad said I can be done for the day."

I was slightly distracted for very obvious reasons as Kurt bent over the open hood again, but he kept right on talking.

"So how was your orientation?" he asked nonchalantly, probably very aware of the fact that I was staring at his ass. "Wes texted me when you guys were apparently waiting for your plane at JFK. Said you wouldn't stop talking about me."

He turned around to shoot a wink at me over his shoulder and I almost lost it.

"Um." It took me a few seconds to remember how to talk. I blinked and forced myself to look away from Kurt's ass. "Yeah. It was good. I don't know what Wes was talking about, though. I tried not to talk about you _too _much. 'Tried' being the operative word here. Yeah. But anyway. It went really well. Orientation, I mean. Not talking about you. I think Wes was getting a little annoyed."

I could hear the smile in his voice as he responded, even though he'd turned back around to focus on the car. "The only times you've ever gotten flustered and speechless like that is around me. Why is that?"

I sighed wistfully and stepped over to look at him from the side so I could see his face. I loved the way he looked when he was concentrating. He bit his bottom lip and his nose always scrunched up adorably.

"Because nobody else can do the things you do to me," I admitted.

I stepped closer to him and wrapped my arms around his waist from behind, resting my head on his back.

"You are the most beautiful boy in the world," I murmured.

I could feel Kurt's quiet giggle ripple through his body. "You're distracting me."

I shrugged one shoulder. "Yeah, well, sorry. I missed you."

He froze in place as I gently turned him around to face me. It seemed like I'd caught him by surprise, but I didn't mind. In fact, I loved the way he inhaled a sharp gulp of breath right before my lips landed on his. It was almost like I could take his breath away.

Huh. Me. Blaine Anderson. Able to take Kurt Hummel's breath away. Interesting.

He braced his hands against the car as I kissed him slowly, languidly, taking my time and drinking him in. I put my hands on his waist and snaked them up his torso, over his chest and finally winding my arms around his neck. He gently parted my lips and slipped his tongue into my mouth; I sucked on it and he melted against me.

As weird as it sounds, I think it was a good thing that Burt Hummel's voice interrupted us right then and there. Otherwise I probably would have been not too far away from taking Kurt right then and there, over the hood of the car.

"Kurt! You're not getting paid to stand around kissing boys all day!"

We broke the kiss abruptly, but when I turned to see Burt standing a few feet away, I was relieved to see that he was smiling. I know it sounds weird because Kurt's dad seems so intimidating all the time and stuff, but once you get to know him, he's actually got a pretty good sense of humor.

"Daaaaaad." Kurt was probably the only person in the world who could sound cute when he whined.

"It's good to have you back," Burt said to me. "Kurt was up late last night listening to sad Broadway songs and hugging his pillow. He said it was because he missed you. I was a little worried."

Kurt blushed. "One o'clock in the morning is not _that _late."

"It is when you think about the fact that he was only gone for _one night_," Burt joked. "How's this one coming along?" he asked, referring to the car.

"It's all done!" Kurt smiled cheerfully as he pushed the hood back down. He grabbed my hand and bounced up and down a little bit. "Can I go now?"

Burt rolled his eyes. "Yes."

He hadn't even gotten the entire word out of his mouth yet when Kurt shouted "Okaythanksdadloveyabye!" and began pulling me towards my car.

"I came here with my dad this morning," he explained as we approached my car, answering my unspoken question of where his car was. He proceeded to read my mind as he continued. "I left my car at home, but I need to wash it. I mean, I _need_ to wash it. It's disgusting. Would you mind helping me?"

He gave me that sweet smile that had made me fall in love with him, because he _knew _I couldn't resist it, as he slid into the passenger's seat of my car.

I pretended to consider this. "Gee, I don't know, Kurt. I'm not too sure if I want to help my amazingly sexy boyfriend was his car on this hot summer day. I'll get back to you on that."

He giggled as he leaned over the gear shift console in between us. "Don't act like you didn't miss me."

"I did," I sighed against his lips as he kissed me. "I missed you so much. I know it was just for one night, but it killed me to have you so far away."

It seemed like Kurt was about to say something in response to this or deepen the kiss, but that didn't happen. All of a sudden my elbow pressed against the horn and a loud _beeeeeeep_ rang through the air, drawing attention to us.

Kurt blushed adorably again as we pulled apart. "We should get going."

"Good idea. I mean, I _could_ just sit here and make out with you all day, but...," I trailed off on purpose as I twisted the key in the ignition and started the car.

"I wouldn't mind that," Kurt admitted with a shy smile as I started to drive. "But my car needs washing. Can I at least settle for seeing you get completely drenched in that?" He nodded to what I was wearing. Apparently I'd picked a good day to wear a white t-shirt.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Depends how wet I get."

Kurt burst into an adorable fit of giggles; I rolled my eyes but couldn't resist smiling. "Oh, shut up, you know I didn't mean it like _that_."

I saw Kurt smirk out of the corner of my eye. "Or did you?"

And so continued our conversation for the rest of the way to Kurt's house, which wasn't too far away. I parked in the street since Kurt's car was already in the driveway and we would need to be able to was it. It didn't look so "disgusting" (as Kurt had put it) to me, but then again, Kurt was a perfectionist. Not that I minded. In fact, the fact that he was such a perfectionist was one of the things I loved most about him. It meant he gave amazing blow jobs, for one thing.

Okay, and now my mind was in the gutter and I needed to stop. Unfortunately, that proved hard once we got out of the car and Kurt started stripping.

He didn't strip completely, of course. Kurt was a smart boy and had enough common sense to know that you didn't just do that in the middle of your driveway. But he _did_ unhook his coveralls and roll them down to the waist, then lifted his flannel shirt up and off over his head.

Yeah, okay, I can't say that seeing him partially strip so casually like that didn't turn me on a little bit.

"Can you put this in your car?" he asked, tossing me his shirt. "Just until we're done. I don't want to forget it."

Yeah, right. The thing was practically drenched in his sweat. If the shirt had belonged to anyone else, I would have found this pretty gross, but since it was Kurt's shirt I didn't mind for some reason. In fact, I might not even give it back to him.

I headed back to my car and carefully folded the shirt before placing it on the passenger seat while Kurt dragged the hose out of the garage and prepared a bucket of soapy water.

I made my way back up the driveway to find him standing and facing me with one hand holding the hose nozzle and the other on his hip, which was cocked slightly to the side. He lifted his chin slightly as he spoke.

"Shirt. Off. Now."

"But I thought you wa-"

I couldn't even finish my sentence before Kurt aimed the nozzle at my chest and squeezed, emitting a deluge of chilly water that soaked the entire front of my shirt. I yelped a little bit in surprise as the blast hit me, but before long Kurt had managed to turn my shirt completely see-through. I decided I might as well take it off.

"Better," he said as I tossed my soaking wet shirt aside. His face had remained expressionless the whole time, but he smiled a little bit once my shirt was off.

"Come on, sexy." He trained the hose on one side of the car and sprayed it until it was wet, then handed me a sponge from the bucket of soapy water. "Let's lather her up."

At first I couldn't really do anything. I was too transfixed on Kurt smearing soapy water all over the car, watching his muscles move under his beautiful, pale skin. It didn't take him too long to notice.

"What do you think you're looking at?" he murmured flatly. "Are you gonna help me wash this thing or not?"

I reached into the bucket and flicked a handful of soapy water at him. "You know perfectly well what I'm looking at."

Kurt dropped the hose and turned to face me with a devious smirk on his face. "Excuse me? _What _was that?" He brushed a handful of bubbly water over my shoulders and collarbone.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I gently maneuvered him so he was sandwiched between myself and the car, then pressed my own soapy sponge directly against his bare chest. "I was a bit distracted by my gorgeous boyfriend to really focus on the car."

Kurt fluttered his eyelashes a little bit as the soapy water ran down his chest. "But I have a gorgeous boyfriend too, and I could still focus on the car."

I didn't even respond to that except by pulling him into a fierce kiss. My hands immediately worked their way up to his hair, holding his face securely against mine and getting a few bubbles in his hair in the process. Kurt seemed receptive at first and kissed me back for a while before he broke away suddenly and bent over to pick up the hose.

"What the-," I squealed a little bit as he squirted me with the hose yet again. "Hey! What was that for?"

"For distracting me when I need to get this washed." Kurt grinned. He seemed quite proud of himself.

"You're lucky you're too cute for me to get mad at you," I teased as I followed him around the side of the car. "But seriously..."

I managed to reach up and grab the hose out of his hands, then proceeded to spray him with a blast of water.

"Blaine!" Kurt's responsive squeal was accompanied by yet another adorable giggle.

I smiled as I began spraying the next side of the car. "Payback."

Somehow, by some miracle, we were able to get the entire car washed, dried, and Armor-Alled, though not without quite a few hose wars and kisses. When we were done, we ended up stretched out on the grass on Kurt's front lawn, trying to catch our breath. We'd gotten quite a bit of exercise chasing each other around the car.

"Y'know...," Kurt mused, turning on his side and propping his head up on his elbow. Still laying on my back, I turned my head to face him. He smiled.

"School's only been out for ten days, and this is already the greatest summer of my life."

I returned his smile and moved closer to him so I could hold him in my arms and pull him against my chest.

"Same for me," I whispered. "And it's only just getting started."


	44. Chapter 44

Hi hi hi. It's been a while, and I apologize. Let's talk.

I saw Glee Live on Tuesday. My thoughts can only be described in one word: ;ahba;fjalbal;fjalbnal;jflafnbal;fjgahlanbakwdhflasfb  
Some highlights:  
- First of all, Harry Shum tweeted me that afternoon before we left for the concert so that was kind of amazing.  
- It was Kevin McHale's birthday. Dude is a BAMF.  
- Chord & Dianna were cute. I don't care that they look like they could be related. I actually really liked Quam. Yay unpopular opinions.  
- Heather & Naya. :)  
- Christopher Paul Colfer let me love you.  
- The man named above has an insanely beautiful voice. I've never cried at a concert before. I Want To Hold Your Hand made me sob.  
- You look at Lea and wonder how a big voice could come out of such a tiny girl.  
- Born This Way. Chris was so cute in his Likes Boys shirt.  
- Darren's voice made my ears pregnant.  
- Also, his orange-pants-teal-shirt outfit confused me. He looked amazing (as usual) but he got onstage in it & I was like DARREN YOUR CLOTHES DON'T MATCH.  
- Seeing DC perform with the New Directions kids after Kurt did his proposal thingy. :,)  
- Chris apparently rubbed his ass and mouthed "Really tight!" during Single Ladies. I didn't catch it until I rewatched it on Youtube but it's SO obvious.  
- SL was unf-tacular btw. I got pregnant from watching that too.  
- I have already started planning Chris & Darren's wedding. It'll be a double ceremony with Heather & Naya getting married as well. You're all invited.  
- Naya singing Valerie. We sang that in choir at school a few months ago, but hearing her do it live, I was like "Welp. We sounded like crap."  
- Everything was amazing. Also, I stole the doorknob sign from the hotel we stayed at. It says "To knock is human, to let me sleep in divine."

So enough about that. It is currently 1:46 am on Friday, June 17, 2011. At 7:58 pm later this evening, I will be getting on a plane to fly out to California. Then, sometime on Tuesday (I forget what time exactly) I will be getting on a plane to fly to Hawaii! I actually managed to crank out another chapter of this before leaving, so yay me. Also, I AM bringing my laptop with me...I can't promise I'll update a whole ton, but I'll work on stuff here and there whenever I feel so inclined.

I'm talking too much, so enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 44

"You sure you're okay with the pay and working on humid days like today? I know it's not the most fun job in the world when it's so hot out."

"I'm fine. It's no problem."

Burt nodded once and shook my hand. "Welcome aboard, Blaine. You are officially the newest employee of Hummel's Tire & Lube."

I'd decided to get a summer job. My mom hadn't been working as much since Chris had been born - sometimes Kurt and I would babysit in the afternoons while she went to work, but I knew things would change at the end of the summer when I moved out to New York and Kurt went back to Dalton. I figured I'd work through the summer and earn some extra money for her to have around when Kurt and I were gone. Hummel's Tire & Lube was a natural choice, obviously. Burt paid well, and I got to spend a decent amount of time watching his hot son fix cars (which was a bonus in its own right).

My first day on the job, though, I quickly realized that staring at Kurt all hot and sweaty bent over the hood of a monster of a pickup truck was about the least productive thing I could have been doing. So when a new customer drove in with his Honda Accord that needed an oil change and parked it on the complete opposite side of the garage from where Kurt was working, I reluctantly decided to go take care of that one.

It was pretty damn hot out that afternoon, so I finally decided to take my shirt off after tinkering with various things on a few cars. I caught Kurt staring at me from across the garage quite a few times after I did so, which was not unpleasant at all. Unfortunately, I also caught quite a bit of unwanted attention from some of our patrons, mostly female.

"Excuse me!" A perky voice snapped my attention away from the car I was currently working on - a red Chevy Cobalt. I turned around to find myself face to face with a bubbly blonde who was practically bursting out of her tube top.

"Hi," I said warily. "Can I help you?" I knew Burt usually didn't take too well to customers interrupting the mechanics who were trying to work on their cars. Plus, my shift was almost over and it was so damn humid, I just wanted to get the hell out of there and not stand around talking to customers whose sexual urges I couldn't have reciprocated even if I'd wanted to.

She giggled. The sound immediately annoyed me. "Oh, I was just wondering if I could get my sunglasses. I left them in this car...it's my sister's, and I completely forgot about them when she dropped it off here this morning."

I didn't see any harm in complying with her request, so I shrugged. "Sure, go ahead and get them."

She smiled and stepped daintily around the front of the car to open the passenger door. I didn't miss the way she made a big show of sticking her ass out as she bent forward to reach inside the car and grab her sunglasses.

"Thank you!" she giggled as she shut the door and unnecessarily stepped over towards me near the open hood. Before she spoke again, her face grew bright with interest.

"Excuse me, I don't mean to be blunt, but...," she began coyly, "do you have a girlfriend?"

I decided to fuck with her mind. Gotta love being gay. "Nope. I _am _taken, though."

The girl's expression fell. "Wait...but..."

"He's already spoken for."

The sudden voice belonged to Kurt. As if on cue, he stepped up closer to me and laced his fingertips through mine. He must have been standing closely behind us, listening to the conversation without me noticing.

"Hi, I'm Kurt Hummel," he said politely to the dumbfounded customer, who could only stare with her eyes wide. "This guy here is my better half." He placed his free hand on my bare chest while keeping the other intertwined with mine.

"Wait...Hummel?" she asked in disbelief. "So does that mean you're..."

"My dad runs this joint," he explained nonchalantly. "And...," his eyes flickered around the room, taking a quick glance before continuing in a low, innocent tone, "he usually doesn't take too well to customers interrupting our hard-working mechanics."

He rubbed my chest as he got those last few words out. Right away I realized that his hands must have been greasy with motor oil, because before I knew it I had a black streak smeared onto my chest.

The girl blinked. "I just was getting my sunglasses," she said quietly.

"Did that require flirting with my man?" he countered. "Because _I _usually don't take too well to _that_."

"I just...," the girl stammered, shoving her sunglasses unceremoniously onto her face, "I gotta go."

She flitted away, presumably towards her own car, and Kurt turned to me with an expectant smile.

"You're hot when you're jealous," I murmured, kissing him quickly but passionately.

The corner of Kurt's mouth turned up in an innocent little half-smile. "Maybe. I just like showing you off, letting everyone know you're all mine."

He nibbled on my lips for a second before moving down to place small kisses on my neck. I tried not to moan as I glanced warily around the garage for his father.

"Oh, don't worry about my dad," Kurt murmured against my skin, having somehow read my mind in that magical way of his. "Our shift's over."

"It is?" I glanced up towards the dusty analog clock that hung near the back of the large garage. Sure enough, it was five o'clock. "Awesome, so we can leave. You still up for helping me babysit tonight?"

"Of course," Kurt giggled as I slipped away from his embrace to pull my shirt back on. "You know I love spending time with the Anderson boys."

My mom had decided to work one of the later shifts today. As assistant manager at Sheets & Things, she pretty much had the final decision over her work schedule. Her boss, Terri Schuester (who happened to be Kurt's old glee club director's ex wife) had some kind of strange maternal instinct, so she understood a little too well that my mom had had to change her schedule a bit to accommodate her new baby.

"I put Chris down for a nap about an hour ago...I give him about another hour before he wakes up," my mom told Kurt and me when we got to my house. "He just had a bottle before his nap, so don't feed him right away when he wakes up...wait a little bit, maybe around seven or eight, closer to when he goes to bed for the night." She grabbed her keys off the hook by the door where she kept him. "You guys know the drill...I'll be back at ten."

Kurt and I called our goodbyes to her as she headed out the door. Once we were alone, Kurt turned to me with a small smile.

"Do you think we could get a shower?" he asked. "Today was the hottest it's been all week, I feel so gross."

I glanced at the clock above the stove. We had plenty of time before Chris woke up. I was feeling a little nasty myself from working in the sweaty garage all day, plus showering with Kurt was an opportunity that should never, ever be passed up.

"Yeah, good idea." I grabbed the baby monitor off of the kitchen counter and brought with us just in case Chris woke up, and we headed up to the bathroom in my room.

We'd done this so many times, it was almost second nature to us. I turned on the water and let it run as we undressed each other slowly, all the more to appreciate each other's bodies. After I'd gotten rid of his coveralls, I let my hands slide up Kurt's chest under the flannel shirt he still wore. My fingers flirted with his nipples for a second before I brought my hands back down and out from under his shirt so I could begin unbuttoning it.

Once the shirt was gone and Kurt was down to nothing but a pair of tight little black boxer briefs, I slipped my hands down and around his body to his ass. I always liked to take my time when I got him down to this particular stage of undress. He whimpered with need as I spread my fingers wide over his cheeks and slid my hands around to the front. He was already half-hard; I placed one hand on his hip and slid the other one down over the bulge at the front of his underwear, further down between his legs to caress his balls through the fabric. A breathless sigh escaped from his lips as he whispered my name.

"You're beautiful," I whispered, pressing a kiss to the middle of his chest right above his stomach. "Every single part of you. I'm never going to let you forget that."

"No matter how many times you do this to me, it never fails to leave me breathless," he sighed as I slipped my hands under the waistband of his boxer briefs and pushed them down his legs. "Nobody else on earth can make me feel as amazing as you do."

Once he was completely naked, he began undressing me just as slowly as I'd undressed him. I loved the way Kurt made me feel. As he slipped each individual article of clothing off my body, he took the time to lavish the newly exposed skin with little strokes and kisses. He was familiar enough with my body to know just what drove me wild, and I never felt more loved and cared for than I did when I was with him.

We stepped into the shower together and I immediately pushed Kurt gently against the wall and began to attack his lips. The steamy water cascaded down over us and created an intoxicating sensation when combined with the heat that already radiated between our bodies. Kurt moaned directly into my mouth as my tongue brushed against his. Every single inch of me was pressed against every single inch of him. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

It took us a while, but we finally remembered what we'd come in here to do and forced ourselves to break away. I still had motor oil smeared on my chest from when Kurt had touched me earlier. He reached for my bottle of Axe shower gel and lathered his hands up before rubbing my chest meticulously until the mark was gone. I returned the favor and scrubbed him down when he was finished with me, making sure not to ignore any part of his perfect body.

"All clean," I told him with a wink as I turned off the shower.

"Are you sure about that?" My back was to Kurt as I stepped out of the shower, but I felt the caress of a familiar hand ghosting along my waist.

"Y'know, now that you say that, I'm not so sure." I wrapped him in a white fluffy towel, letting my fingers linger on his skin longer than was necessary. "I think I might be feeling a little dirty."

"Calm down, pervert," he snapped sassily as he headed out into my bedroom, swaying his hips a bit more than usual as he walked. I shook my head but smiled as I grabbed a towel for myself and followed him.

"I can't help it if you're so damn hot," I said, pulling open one of my dresser drawers and yanking on the first t-shirt I grabbed. "But we _are _babysitting, so we should at least put clothes on."

"I didn't bring any extra clothes." Kurt was still standing in the middle of my room with the towel around his waist, looking adorably confused.

I grabbed another shirt out of my drawer and tossed it to him.

"I need pants," Kurt said flatly as he caught the shirt one-handed.

"No, you don't," I teased, but all the same pulled open the bottom drawer of my dresser and grabbed a pair of pants for him.

Kurt took the pants I held out to him in between the tips of his thumb and forefinger, as if he didn't want to touch them. "Blaine, these are _sweatpants_."

"It's just you and me here tonight," I told him as I pulled another pair of sweatpants out for myself. "I think you'll live."

Kurt rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath that I couldn't hear, but all the same dropped his towel and tugged on the sweatpants.

"See?" I asked rhetorically, letting my eyes travel up and down his body. The black sweatpants looked amazing on him, and my old Warblers t-shirt from sophomore year was a little tight on him but that just made it look even better.

"See what?" Kurt asked, legitimately confused.

I stepped forward and placed my hands on his waist. "You look incredible."

Kurt blushed. "My hair is wet and probably looks a hot mess, I'm wearing a t-shirt that's a little too small on me _and _I'm in sweatpants. Please tell me what part of that is incredible?"

This was a side of Kurt that only I ever got to see. He usually acted strong and confident at school and in public, but I was the only person to whom he ever bared his insecurities like this. It was actually a wonderful feeling to know that he trusted me so much.

I sighed. "I wish you could see yourself through my eyes. You don't understand how perfect you are."

"I feel perfect when I'm with you," Kurt said softly as his eyes fell closed. "That's all I know."

The kiss I gave him right then was different than the urgent, messy kisses we'd shared in the shower. This one was slower, sweeter, more tender, but just as passionate as the others. I wrapped my arms around his waist and held him against me, and it would have been a completely perfect moment had I not heard Chris start to cry on the baby monitor.

Very reluctantly, I let Kurt go. "Sounds like he's up," I sighed.

Kurt smirked. "Probably should go take care of that."

I headed into the nursery and gently lifted Chris out of his crib. He wasn't crying too loudly, so I gave him a quick once-over - he didn't need to be changed, and it didn't seem like anything had somehow happened to him while sleeping, so I figured he was just waking up. I rocked him gently against my chest for a few minutes until he calmed down.

"Would you mind keeping an eye on him? I was just gonna go order something for dinner." I transferred my baby brother into Kurt's open arms. "Is Chinese okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Kurt responded quickly with a huge smile on his face that was obviously meant for Chris. "Hi, sweetie! Your mommy had to go to work, so me and your brother are gonna stay here with you tonight, okay?"

I smiled and headed downstairs to order the food. Kurt followed, cooing sweet little nothings to my brother. I couldn't describe how much I loved seeing the way Kurt was with Chris. It made me think about how amazing of a father he'd be someday.

He sat on the couch with Chris while I called in the order. When I was done, I hung up the phone and turned towards Kurt, who smiled and patted the empty space next to him on the couch.

I gladly snuggled in next to him and rested my head on his shoulder. "This feels nice," I murmured. "Just a nice, quiet night at home with my boys."

Kurt smiled and brushed the back of his hand against my cheek. "I love babysitting with you," he told me.

"I love seeing you like this." I nodded towards him and Chris. "Seeing you with him. You're so amazing, Kurt. Your children will be so lucky to have you as their father."

Kurt smiled and kissed me quickly. "_Our _children," he corrected.

Hearing him say that so casually made a breath catch in my throat. I prayed that Kurt didn't notice, but unfortunately he did.

"I...I didn't mean...," he stammered.

I gently silenced him by holding my index finger against his lips. "No, you're fine," I reassured him. "It just took me by surprise, I guess, hearing you mention it like that. But...," I reached out for his free hand and took it in both of mine as I looked him in the eyes. "I would be lying if I said I haven't thought about having a family with you someday. You are the love of my life, Kurt. I can't imagine anything more perfect than raising children of our own and growing old together. I want to spend every single day of the rest of my life with you."

Kurt blinked a little bit, but his eyes were wide. It looked like he was trying to hold back tears.

"Blaine," he whispered, slipping his hand out of mine and bringing it up to caress my face. He pulled me into a deep kiss. I leaned in closer to him, trying to be careful since he was still holding Chris.

"That's all I want from life, is to spend it all with you," he whispered as we broke away. "I couldn't ask for anything more."

I was trying to think of something with which to respond to him when the doorbell rang, probably signaling the arrival of our food. I sighed and stood up to go answer it while Kurt put Chris in his swing to free up his hands so he could eat.

It ended up being exactly what I'd said it would be: a nice, quiet night at home with my boys. After Kurt and I finished eating, I went to heat up a bottle for Chris since it was getting close to his normal bedtime. I fed him the whole thing while Kurt snuggled up next to me and pulled a blanket over us.

"I could just fall asleep right here," I murmured drowsily, setting the empty bottle on the coffee table.

Kurt giggled. "It's not even eight yet. How are you tired?"

"I dunno," I murmured, letting my head rest against the top of his. "I guess I should probably get up and put this little guy in his crib, though."

"Yeah, good idea." Kurt stood up and reached down to help me up. We headed back upstairs to the nursery, not bothering to turn on any lights since Chris was already pretty much asleep.

"Night, buddy," I said quietly as I set Chris down in his crib. "Love you."

Kurt smiled and reached into the crib to brush Chris's cheek with the lightest touch of his fingertips. "Sweet dreams, Christopher."

I smiled and laced my fingers through his as we left the room. "Thanks again for helping me out tonight," I said, giving him a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"No problem." It was dark in the hallway outside the nursery, but I could still see the beautiful sparkle in Kurt's eyes. I had the most random urge to take him outside and look at the way those eyes shone in the moonlight.

And suddenly I had an idea.

"Come on," I whispered, pulling him towards my room. The window was already open. Right outside my window was a lower section of the roof. If you climbed out the window, you could sit there and gaze up at the sky or just think. This was the same house my parents had brought me home to after I'd been born, and I'd slept in this same room all those years. Ever since I was a little kid, I remembered crawling out the window to sit on the roof whenever I needed some time by myself. That little spot was my favorite place in the world - other than in Kurt's arms, of course.

Well, tonight I could get the best of both worlds. I climbed out the window and took a seat on the gentle slope of the roof, then motioned for Kurt to follow.

"Wow," he breathed as he sat down next to me and looked out over the neighborhood. "You can see for miles from up here."

"I love it here," I told him. "I just got the random idea to bring you here and let you see."

"This is incredible," he whispered. And it was. It was a warm summer night, and the sun had already set most of the way but there was still a subtle orange line glowing on the horizon. The air around us was filled with the sounds of crickets chirping and some of the neighborhood kids playing in their backyards. Their shouts and giggles sounded further away from up here.

"Look at all the stars," I told him as I glanced up.

Kurt followed suit and craned his neck up to look at the sky. "Oh my...oh my god."

I was no longer looking at the stars. I was looking at _him _looking at the stars. I smiled.

"Beautiful," was all I said, and I wasn't talking about the stars. Kurt _was _beautiful. I knew I would never forget the way he looked in that moment. His eyes that shone radiantly in the moonlight, the adorable slope of his nose, his parted lips, the immaculate skin of his fully exposed neck.

He looked back down away from the sky and smiled at me. "Speak for yourself," he said softly.

A tiny firefly darted through the air in front of us at that very moment. Kurt gasped excitedly and reached out to catch it. He cupped it carefully in between both of his hands and brought it down for me to see.

"I've always thought fireflies were so pretty," Kurt murmured as we stared at the tiny insect lighting up in between his cupped hands. "They make a perfect summer night like tonight seem even more magical."

"Being with _you _is magical," I told him with a tiny smile.

Kurt somehow managed to bite his lip and smile and look completely adorable at the same time. He opened his hands and let the firefly escape.

"You're right," he said quietly as he watched it fly away, then turned to smile at me. "Who needs little bugs when you and I can make our own magic?"

He was still smiling under my lips when I pulled him into a kiss. I kissed him slowly and languidly in the summer night, trying to draw out the incredible sensation for as long as possible. I'm not quite sure how long we sat out there that night, exchanging lazy kisses, but all I know is that there certainly was a tangible embodiment of magic there with me that night. And his name was Kurt Hummel.


	45. Chapter 45

I think maybe it's a good thing I waited so long to update. The events of this chapter never would have happened had Darren not kissed Chris onstage at the last Glee show tonight. I'm a huge CrissColfer shipper, and that just reinforced my belief that they are/would be perfect together. I love that they had so much courage (pun intended) to do that onstage in front of so many people. And the fact that Darren instigated it made me love it even more. He is so open minded about...well, everything. And I adore him for it. I adore both of them. They're beautiful. This chapter goes out to them.

* * *

Chapter 45

Kurt Hummel was a man of habit. One of his many habits included spending lots of time getting ready before a big event - picking out the right outfit, super-moisturizing his face (he insisted it could be done) and coiffing his hair to perfection. This did not change on that wonderful night we saw Lady Gaga in concert. But as Kurt was getting ready behind his closed bathroom door, he had no idea what was in store for him. Neither of us did.

"Kurt!" I called, trying not to sound too impatient (although the closer it got to the concert, the more excited I was; I just wanted to leave the house already). "You almost done?"

"It takes time to look this fabulous!" was Kurt's muffled response, called through the closed door in a singsong voice.

"You know I think you look gorgeous all the time!" I tried to mimic his tone.

I heard him giggle and immediately knew he must have been blushing. "Blaine, please, just give me a few more minutes. I'm just as excited to get there as you are. Maybe even more so."

I gave him a few more minutes, just as he asked, and sure enough he emerged from the bathroom about five minutes later. As usual, his choice of outfit was completely unpredictable. He wore a short-sleeved white t-shirt with the words _Likes Boys _printed on the front in large black letters. A pair of dark skinny jeans hugged his long legs in all the right places. His hair looked like it had been deliberately messed up. In short: Kurt looked hot.

"Wow," I said stupidly when he first stepped out of the bathroom.

Kurt grinned and did a little twirl. "You like it?"

"I _love _it," I said, still dumbfounded by how incredible he looked. "Particularly the shirt. Where'd you get it."

"I made it!" Kurt said proudly. "Gaga is all about expressing yourself and being proud of who you are." He gestured to the words printed on the shirt. "I was born this way, and I couldn't be more proud of it."

"Well, you look incredible." I smiled. "Kind of makes me wish I would have put more effort into my own outfit." I frowned down at my own simple white v-neck and tight jeans.

"Are you kidding me?" Kurt gave me one of his signature dirty looks as he pulled his shoes on. "You look amazing. You're probably the only guy I know who could wear something so simple and still look as good as you do. Besides...," he skipped over to me and ran his fingers through my hair, "I love your hair when you don't gel it. Well, I love your hair when you _do _gel it, but now it's nice and soft."

"I do enjoy letting you play with my hair," I admitted as Kurt continued to do so, fluffing his hand through my curls.

Kurt smirked and ran one hand gently over the side of my face. "I notice you haven't shaved for a few days, too," he noted. "Stubble's hot."

"You think so?" I murmured absentmindedly, reaching up to hold his hand against my face. "I'm not so sure if I want it to grow much longer."

"You know I'm going to think you're beautiful no matter what you do." Kurt smiled and kissed me quickly. "Do whatever you want with it."

"Fine," I sighed with fake exasperation, then grabbed his hand.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" I asked him with a smile. "Ms. Gaga awaits."

"Ahh!" Kurt squealed excitedly and bounced up and down on his toes a few times before leaning in to kiss me on the cheek. "Thank you thank you _thank you so much _for getting us these tickets, Blaine. I'm so excited."

"You're adorable." I returned his smile and squeezed his hand. "Shall we get going?"

…

Okay, so I would never admit this out loud to Kurt because then he would just gloat, but as we watched the concert I found myself liking Lady Gaga more and more. In fact, I might have even liked her more than I like Katy Perry. And I like Katy Perry a lot.

The best part, though, was seeing Kurt so happy and excited. He'd had the biggest smile on his face ever since we walked into the venue and he realized how close our seats were. We were on the floor, off to the side but just a few rows back from the stage. I loved being able to think that his beautiful smile was there because of _me_. Well, in this case, part of it was because of Lady Gaga. But I could take some credit for it. Who'd gotten him the tickets, again?

"Blaine?" Kurt asked softly, slipping into my arms as Gaga took a seat behind the piano onstage and began to slow it down a little bit with Speechless.

"Yes, Kurt?" I wrapped my arms around his waist and spoke with my lips brushing the soft skin of his neck.

"Thank you," he sighed simply.

I swayed back and forth with him in my arms for the entire song. As fantastic of a performer as Lady Gaga was, I couldn't take my eyes off of Kurt. When she sang the chorus, I placed my lips at Kurt's ear and sang along softly to him.

"I'll never talk again

Oh, boy, you've left me speechless

You've left me speechless, so speechless

And I'll never love again

Oh, boy, you've left me speechless

You've left me speechless, so speechless."

Kurt turned his head towards me. His eyes were already halfway closed as he placed his lips on mine. I kissed him back softly and before we knew it, we were making out right there in the middle of the crowd. Despite the multitude of screaming Little Monsters that surrounded us, it felt like we were the only two people in the world for the remainder of the song.

We broke away gently as the song came to a close and the crowd roared. Kurt smiled dreamily at me without breaking our mutual eye contact.

"I love you," he whispered.

Try as I might, I could never escape the trembling chills that raced down my spine whenever he said those words to me.

"I love you, too," I told him quietly but firmly.

The crowd settled down for a few seconds before Gaga began to introduce the next number.

"This next song," she said slowly, "is about expressing yourself and being proud of who you are."

"Did I not just say that earlier?" Kurt shouted to me as the crowd cheered. "I used those exact words!"

Gaga wasn't finished. "So all of you little monsters out there who are proud of who you are, I want you to _scream_!" she shouted. "Make some noise! I'm gonna pick a few of you to come up here onstage and sing it with me!"

Kurt immediately began jumping up and down excitedly, waving one of his hands in the air. The other was firmly intertwined with my own hand.

"Oh! Me! Us!" he shouted, gesturing wildly to the two of us. "Pick us!"

The crowd around us was deafening me with their screamed. Even the people in the nosebleeds who had no chance of being picked were letting themselves be heard. Onstage, Gaga was making her way over to our side. Kurt started jumping faster.

"Please pick us!" he shouted, holding our interlaced hands up in the air in the hopes that she would see them.

"You two!" Gaga finally stopped and pointed directly at Kurt and me. "You boys looked pretty cozy during the last number. Why don't you come up here and help me sing this next one?"

"Blaine! She noticed us!" Kurt said excitedly, then turned to face Gaga onstage. He pointed to himself and mouthed, _Us_?

"Yes, you, in the _Likes Boys _shirt. You and your boy. Both of you, get your gorgeous asses up here."

"Oh, my god!" Kurt squealed and immediately started pulling me through the crowd, past the burly security man at the front who stepped aside to let us up onstage. The crowd was still cheering as we made our way onto the stage and stepped next to Lady Gaga herself.

"Guys, get them some microphones," she called to the stage crew in the wings, then turned to face Kurt and myself. "Why don't you two introduce yourselves to all your screaming fans here tonight?"

She handed her microphone to Kurt, who took it and miraculously managed to say "I'm Kurt," without stammering nervously.

"Blaine," I introduced myself with a little wave as Blaine held the microphone out in front of me.

"He's my boyfriend," Kurt added unnecessarily, but I still found it adorable. The crowd seemed to think that was nice, because they cheered.

Kurt gave the microphone back to Gaga as a stage crew member came out and handed us each our own mics.

"Kurt and Blaine. It's very nice to meet you both," she said with a smile. "How long have you two been together?"

"Ten months," I said proudly into my microphone, wrapping an arm around Kurt's waist.

"That's sweet." Gaga smiled at Kurt, who looked like he was about to piss himself with excitement. "Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure I saw Blaine here kissing on you quite a bit during that last number." Kurt blushed adorably and nodded quickly a whole bunch of times. Gaga turned to acknowledge me. "You must love him very much."

"I do," I told her and the entire arena full of people, but looking nowhere except into Kurt's eyes. "I love Kurt more than anything else in the world."

"Awww!" the entire crowd chorused in unison.

Gaga waited for the crowd to get quiet. "Well, how about one more kiss right here?" she suggested to the both of us.

The crowd went nuts. I couldn't believe it. Here was an arena full of fifty thousand people, all of whom were encouraging me to kiss my boyfriend right here, in front of all of them, with their appreciative screams. I couldn't even explain how liberating that felt after everything we'd been through together.

"They want to see a kiss!" Gaga shouted to us over the crowd.

Kurt and I smiled at each other as we silently came to the mutual agreement to give the people what they wanted. I stepped closer to him and placed my hands on either side of his face before leaning in and crashing my lips gently down onto his. The crowd screamed even louder, if that was possible. It sounded like they were loving this, and that was amazing.

I kissed him for a long time, considering the circumstances that involved us being onstage in the middle of a concert featuring a multi-Grammy-award-winning artist. The kiss brought with it such a rush of pride and hope. Two men were kissing onstage in front of tens of thousands of people - all of whom seemed to support it - and I was one of those two men. I had tears in my eyes when we pulled away. I looked at Kurt and noticed that he was crying a little bit, too.

"This is what true love looks like," Gaga told the crowd, gesturing to myself and Kurt. "And seeing every single one of you screaming your support for these two boys is just as beautiful as the fact that they had the balls to get up here and do that. They're going to help me sing Born This Way now, but I want each and every one of you to sing it along with us, okay?"

She was met with another explosive cheer. "Which one of you wants to start us off?" she asked Kurt and I.

I stepped back and pushed Kurt gently into the center of the stage. He glanced back at me, then at Gaga, who smiled at him and nodded.

Kurt inhaled a shaky breath as he stared out at the crowd that was screaming for him, screaming for us. His voice was low and seductive as he began the song.

"It doesn't matter if you love him," he said slowly, "or capital H-I-M."

He raised his hands above his head and tilted his head back, drinking in the screams of the audience.

"Just put your paws up," he continued. "Cause you were born this way, baby."

The audience was still roaring its support as Gaga began the first verse with some help from the two of us. We sang along to every single note with her, and when the song reached the bridge, she and I both stepped back so that Kurt could sing it.

Kurt shot a surprised glance back at the two of us, but we both smiled at him and let him have his moment in the spotlight where he belonged. He smiled nervously as he began to sing.

"Don't be a drag, just be a queen

Whether you're broke or evergreen

You're black, white, beige, Chola descent

You're Lebanese, you're Orient

Whether life's disabilities

Left you outcast, bullied or teased

Rejoice and love yourself today

Cause baby, you were born this way."

I immediately ran up and wrapped him in a hug as he finished singing. He hugged me back for a few seconds before we broke away and finished singing the rest of the song along with Gaga.

"Everybody give it up for my friends Kurt and Blaine!" Gaga shouted at the end of the song, over the rousing ovation of the crowd.

Kurt turned and smiled at me excitedly. "Did you hear that? We're her friends!"

Gaga gave us each a hug before we made our way offstage and back to our seats. Once we got off the stage and into the aisle, I had to reach out to steady Kurt as we walked because he looked like he was about to fall over.

"Oh my god," he said, his voice shaking. "That didn't just happen. I dreamed the whole thing. Oh my god."

"It just happened," I told him with a smile as we slipped back into the row where our seats were. "Believe it, sweetheart."

"I don't know if I can." He smiled at me. "Thank you so, so, _so _much, Blaine. Everything about tonight has been amazing. _You _are amazing."

"Speak for yourself." I nuzzled my face into his neck. "I wanted you to have the best birthday ever, and this was part of your present, remember?"

Gaga only sang a few more songs after that before the concert was over. Kurt, still in total and absolute shock, made his way out of the arena, across the parking lot and back to my car in a total trance. Once we were inside with the doors locked, he reached across the gear shift console in between us and pulled me into a passionate kiss.

"In case I haven't said it enough already," he whispered against my lips, "thank you."

"You're so welcome," I murmured. "Good birthday, even though it was a few months ago?"

Kurt broke the kiss so he could nod profusely. "Yes. Oh my god."

I smiled and kissed the tip of his nose. "You're so cute. But I feel like there's a problem with your shirt."

Kurt glanced down at his shirt and frowned. "I thought you liked my shirt."

"I do," I reassured him. "I just know how I can make it even better."

I was suddenly thankful for the massive amount of useless crap that always seemed to accumulate in my car since I always forgot to clean it out. I grabbed the Sharpie that had been sitting in the cup holder, not even remembering why I had it in here, and grabbed the fabric at the front of Kurt's shirt so I could write something on it.

Kurt glanced down at the front of his shirt when I was finished. I'd drawn a few lines through the word "boys" and written my own name so the shirt now read _Likes Blaine_.

"Better, but still not perfect," he told me, and grabbed the Sharpie out of my hand. Looking down at his shirt, he clumsily wrote something else near the top of the shirt that was hard for me to read at first since he was writing upside down.

"All done." He capped the Sharpie and turned to face me so I could see what he'd written.

Kurt had crossed out the word "likes" to the best of his ability and replaced it with another five-letter word beginning with the letter L. His shirt now read _Loves Blaine_.


	46. Chapter 46

So this is kind of bittersweet. It's Blaine's last night before he goes away to college (I told you Part 2 would kind of be more spaced out, time-wise). Pretty smutty. SexGod!Kurt. Also, there's some French in here. French words I know: zero. Any French mistakes are Google Translate's fault, not mine.

* * *

Chapter 46

After the incredibly life-changing experience that was the Gaga concert, the rest of the summer seemed to fly by pretty quickly. It was only a few days after the concert when I realized that starting to pack for college was probably a good idea. It took me a while, because I was the type of person to sit there and reminisce over random old objects I found in my room. Somehow, though, by the time the middle of August rolled around, everything was gone and packed - either into suitcases for me to take to NYU with me, or in boxes that would go into the attic. Chris would be using this as his bedroom once he got old enough to outgrow the nursery, so all my stuff had to go. The only things that hadn't been packed were the furniture (obviously) and a few framed pictures of myself and Kurt that I couldn't bring myself to pack away just yet.

"Wow," I remarked as I stood in my nearly-empty bedroom the day before I was set to move out to New York. "It's so...empty."

Kurt, who had come over to help me pack the last of my things, sauntered over to my bed and sat down in the middle with his legs crossed. He sat up straight and hugged a pillow to his chest.

"Well what did you expect, College Boy?" he teased with that smile that I adored.

"Oh, stop." I rolled my eyes and laughed as I lay down beside him on the bed, then wrapped my arms around his waist to pull him so he was lying next to me. "I still have the most important thing of my life in here. You."

"I can't stay in this room forever," Kurt pointed out flatly.

"Yes, but you _can _stay in my life forever." I tightened my arms around him and pulled him up so his head was on my chest, but looked him in the eyes. "And it would make me really, really happy if you did that."

"I plan on it." Kurt wrapped his arms around my waist and snuggled closer to me. "Just because you're going to be a few hundred miles away doesn't mean I can't keep you."

"I'm all yours," I sighed, giving him a tiny smile. "You own my heart. I trust you to keep it safe while I'm away."

"You know I'll never let you down in that respect," Kurt said softly.

I lay there with him in my arms for the longest time. The rest of the afternoon could have passed and I wouldn't have even noticed. We both knew that this was one of the last times we'd be able to be together like this for a few months. I had the sudden urge to make this moment last forever.

Too soon, Kurt slipped out of my arms and sat up. "It's almost six. You need to get going."

I reached out my arms, trying to pull him back to me, but he stood up from the bed entirely. I had to admit, I was confused.

"Where am I going? I don't want to be anywhere without you."

Kurt smiled and reached down to pull me up to my feet. "You are going out to dinner with your mother while I redecorate your room. Then you're coming back and I am going to make your last night before college, the best night of your life."

I pulled him into a kiss. "I love you, Kurt Hummel."

He kissed me back for a second before breaking away with a smile. "You have to get going! Your mom is waiting downstairs. I made reservations for 6:30 for you guys at Breadstix. You can kiss me later, I promise." He winked as he slipped out of my arms and shoved me gently towards the door. "Okay, now go!"

He shut the door behind me and I heard the lock click into place, so I sighed and hurried down the stairs. My mom was already standing in the kitchen, ready to go with Chris in the baby carrier.

"It's very nice of him to treat us to dinner," she commented as we got into the car.

My eyes went wide. "Please don't tell me he's paying. He's not even coming. He shouldn't have to pay."

"He gave me a fifty dollar gift card," my mom said as she backed out of the driveway. "Technically, it's his treat."

I rolled my eyes as I turned the radio on. "He is not getting away with this."

"Oh, Blaine, stop it," she laughed. "Kurt's a very sweet boy. He makes you so happy, I can see it in the way your face lights up whenever anyone so much as says his name."

I blushed. "That happens?"

"Ask anyone. And then there's that smile you get whenever you see him. After I first started noticing that, I realized that I've never seen you so happy."

When I first moved back to live with my mom, she and I had wordlessly agreed not to talk about the brief three-year period of time during which I didn't live at home. I knew she still felt terrible about it, and although I'd come to forgive her, I never brought it up because I didn't want her to feel bad. I wondered when she first started to notice what Kurt did to me, considering that the first few times she met him were not under pleasant circumstances.

I managed to circumlocute the subject away from Kurt during the remainder of the drive to the restaurant, mostly because talking about him made me want to be with him and that obviously couldn't happen at the moment. During dinner, my mom and I chattered about New York and college while Chris stared at us with his wide eyes. He was starting to get so attentive to the things around him. It suddenly hit me how much I was going to miss my little brother.

I pushed my empty plate away and reached out towards Chris. He grabbed ahold of my finger a lot tighter than I expected a baby to be able to grab anything.

"I'm gonna miss you," I told him, making my face look sad.

My mom smiled. "I've been thinking," she said. "His father isn't around because he's busy serving a jail sentence for assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder. Even when he gets out of jail, he's not coming back. When Chris gets older, he's going to start asking where his dad is and wondering why he's not around. But he's still going to have somewhat of a fatherly figure in his life, because he has you. You're his brother, but you're older enough than him that you can share your wisdom and give him advice and just be there as a role model, and that makes me feel a lot better about things."

I smiled, touched, and awkwardly leaned across the table in the booth to give her a hug. "I love you, Mom. I'm gonna miss you, too."

She hugged me back before pulling away with a smile. "You ready to go?"

I suddenly remembered that Kurt was waiting back at my house. "Yes."

My mom opened up the little black bill folder and placed Kurt's entire fifty-dollar gift card inside, then handed it to our waitress who was passing by and instructed her to keep the change. Our bill had come to nowhere near fifty dollars, but I could tell she knew I was impatient to get back to Kurt.

We continued our college-related banter as we drove back, but I couldn't ignore my palpitating heart. A thrill of adrenaline raced through me as I thought about what Kurt could have possibly done. My palms were starting to get sweaty, so I discreetly wiped them on the seat.

When we got back to the house, my mom stopped the car in the driveway instead of pulling into the garage like she normally did.

"What are you doing?" I asked her, confused. "Aren't you putting it in the garage?"

My mom smiled and shook her head. "No. I'm leaving for the night. Chris and I are going to spend the night at Aunt Sarah's." My mother's sister, Sarah, lived just a few blocks away.

I looked at her in disbelief. "So does this mean...?"

"You and Kurt have the house to yourselves tonight. I know this is a very emotional night for the two of you. I wanted you to be able to be with him and only him."

This seemed almost too good to be true. "You're serious?"

"I trust you, Blaine. You obviously love him very much, so follow your heart." She unlocked the car doors. "I'll be back in the morning to take you to the airport."

I wasn't sure if my mom was aware of the fact that Kurt and I had already had sex numerous times, but it didn't matter. I leaned over and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you so much, Mom!" I called, jumping out of the car and calling "Bye!" over my shoulder as I raced into the house.

Everything was dark when I stepped through the front door. I stood in the front hallway for a second before remembering that Kurt had said something about redecorating my room. I sprinted up the stairs.

The door to my room was locked. Of course. I knocked impatiently a few times.

After a few seconds, the door was pulled open from the other side and all the breath was taken out of my body when I looked at Kurt. He was wearing nothing but a loosely-tied navy blue silk robe, and his hair seemed to be completely devoid of any gel or product so it fell into its natural bangs over his forehead. He was so stunning that it took a second for my brain to process what I was looking at.

"Why hello, Blaine Anderson," he drawled in a low, seductive voice. "I've been expecting you. Won't you come in?"

As I stepped into the room behind him, I realized that I had been so awestruck by Kurt for a few moments that I hadn't even noticed what my bedroom looked like when he'd opened the door. First of all, there were candles everywhere, bathing the room in a soft, romantic glow. My usual sheets had been taken off my bed and replaced with something smooth and silky-looking. Kurt's iPod was plugged into my speaker system and soft, sensual music was playing, turned down to the point where it was merely background noise. The entire room smelled amazing; I recognized the scent as a mixture of the aroma given off by the candles and Kurt's cologne. It was very hot, too, I noticed _that _pretty quickly. I figured that was partly because of the candles and partly because Kurt must have cranked up the thermostat.

"_Ça vous plaît_?" he asked in an innocent tone, fluttering his eyelashes just the tiniest bit. "_Je voulais faire cette soirée spéciale pour vous_."

Jesus. As if everything wasn't already sexy enough, now he was speaking French. He knew exactly how to get me.

"Y-yeah." I nodded weakly, having vaguely understood what he'd said. I'd spent enough time with Kurt to have picked up at least a little French. "I don't just like it, I love it."

Kurt giggled a little bit, then reached up with his index finger and caught a drop of sweat that was running down my neck.

"It's a little hot in here. Are you hot?" he asked, keeping his eyes locked on mine as he licked that same finger.

Then, without even waiting for me to reply, he added, "_I'm _hot," and stepped back away from me as he loosened the tie on his robe and let it fall to the floor.

It wasn't the first time I'd seen him naked, but that didn't mean I wasn't incredibly turned on.

"Fuck, Kurt, you're so beautiful," I breathed.

"I think you're hot, too," he commented in that little tone of his that I liked to call his Sexy Voice. He stepped forward and began to undo the first few buttons on my shirt before gently grabbing ahold of my wrist and pulling me forward. "You might be a little more comfortable on the bed."

Kurt had let go of my wrist and stretched himself out lazily on the bed, shamelessly looking right back at me as I gazed over every single inch of his perfect body. I had to admit, I would miss not having him around all the time so we could do things like this whenever we wanted. I would never, ever, ever believe how lucky I'd gotten to have found the single most perfect man on the face of the earth.

He was so beautiful, and so perfect, I couldn't even do anything but just stare at him for a few seconds. It was moments like this when I couldn't even believe he was real. I _needed _to touch him just to make sure that this perfect human being actually existed and was not just a wonderful figment of my imagination.

But before I got a chance to just reach out and touch him, he reached up and pulled me down so I was sitting on the edge of the bed. He crawled back up and knelt with one leg on either side of me, so that he was straddling my lap and his completely hard cock was pressing against my stomach.

"You are a _god_. You deserve to be worshiped," he breathed as he kissed and bit my neck, resuming his unbuttoning of my shirt at the same time. "I am going to worship your body tonight, Blaine."

"_Kurt_," I moaned weakly as he ran his hands over my chest, then slipped my shirt off my shoulders. "I _need _you."

I wasn't lying. In that moment, there was nothing I needed more than him. I needed his lips all over my body. I needed to feel him inside me...I needed to feel us as one being, one more time before I had to leave.

"I told you," he whispered against my skin as he pushed me backwards so I was lying on the bed, "I wanted to make this night special for you. This is the last moment we'll get to share like this for a while, so I wanted to make it as beautiful and perfect and amazing as you are."

"Look who's talking." I smirked as he lavished my bare chest with little licks and kisses as he worked his way further south. "Mr. Beautiful, Perfect and Amazing himself."

"Oh, Blaine." Kurt paused for a moment, smiling beautifully up at me as he reached up to caress my cheek with one hand. "You will never see yourself as I see you. I guess I should start to accept that."

"Yeah, you should..._ohhhhh_." I couldn't stifle a moan as he pulled off my pants and boxers together, then wrapped one hand around my hard length. "Yes. _Kurt_."

I continued to babble in this way as he pumped me with one hand and reached the other towards the nightstand to grab the bottle of lube that was there.

"Spread your legs for me," he breathed, taking his hand off of my cock so he could open the bottle of lube.

I did as I was told. He prepared me lovingly, just as he always did, inserting one finger at a time and scissoring and spreading them out inside me until I was ready for him. I never felt more loved and cared for than I did when Kurt made love to me.

When I was all stretched out, he handed me the bottle of lube and straddled my waist, making his back straight. "Slick me up, please, will you?"

I squirted some lube into my hand, then rubbed my palms together and rubbed it up his entire length. Kurt moaned as I continued stroking him even after he was all lubed up.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked in a seductive whisper as I set the bottle back on the nightstand and he lined himself up. "This is my night to make _you _feel good."

"Couldn't help myself," I admitted.

Kurt simply smiled as he leaned forward to press his lips against mine.

"I'm gonna make you feel so good, baby," he whispered softly against the kiss. "You're never going to forget this night."

He continued kissing me and I thought _that _was amazing enough, but then I felt something pushing into me and I realized right away that it was _Kurt _and I breathlessly pulled away from the kiss so I could look into his eyes.

"I love you," I whispered once he was all the way inside me.

"And I love you," he whispered back, kissing me softly one more time. "Now just feel this."

I lay perfectly still and felt him. Felt _us_.

"Feel me inside you. Feel how tight you are around me. Feel how close we are. Just feel how we are _one_, Blaine. Never forget how this feels."

"I won't," I swore to him in a broken whisper.

He began to move. I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him in deeper, desperate to feel as much of him inside me as possible. I knew this was the last time we'd be able to do this for a while, but I tried not to think about that. It wasn't too hard to push those thoughts from my mind and focus instead on the present. This beautiful boy was inside me and looking at me with such love and adoration in his eyes that I almost wanted to cry.

I began to cry out his name as he started to hit that spot inside of me that always drove me wild. Kurt kept thrusting into me with his quick but steady rhythm, rolling his hips against mine every so often. After he shoved in with one particularly hard thrust, I wailed his name.

"Kurt...Kurt, baby, I'm so close...," I moaned.

He pounded into me again and kept his eyes locked on mine. "Go ahead and come for me, Blaine," he said quietly but firmly. "Come _all _over me."

I did as he said and completely let go, screaming his name as I released all over his chest. I hadn't even finished completely yet when I felt Kurt coming inside me as well, making noises that should be illegal as he did so.

He pulled out of me and we lay sweaty and sated beside each other for a few breathless seconds before he took me in his arms.

"What are you doing?" he asked with a smirk as I looked down over his gorgeous body once again.

"Memorizing you," I murmured.

Kurt giggled. "Do you plan to forget?"

I placed a passionate kiss on his lips. "Absolutely not."

I kissed him for a few seconds before breaking away to look into his beautiful eyes. "Thank you, Kurt. Tonight was unbelievable. I'm going to remember every second."

"Good." He smiled and kissed me again. "I don't want you to ever forget me."

There was no way I ever could. I could never forget him, even if I'd wanted to. I drifted off to sleep peacefully in his arms, vowing to always remember how this felt for the entire time I would be gone. I wasn't sad, though. This wasn't the end. Even though I had to leave him for the time being, I knew I would always have my Kurt to come home to. 

* * *

Next chapter: The morning after. Lisa and Kurt take Blaine to the airport, and he's off to college! I was going to put that in this chapter, but quite frankly it's 3 in the morning and I am dead tired.  
Reviews make my day! :D 


	47. Chapter 47

Yay for bittersweet-ness! The song Kurt sings in this chapter is Sunlight, by the Plain White T's. While I was in Hawaii a few weeks ago, we actually did a boat tour of Pearl Harbor and PWT was there, too, on the same boat as us. So we actually got to hang out with the band for a little bit which was pretty cool. There were only like 30 total people on the boat, including the 5 guys in the band. Then at one point they let us off the boat so we could walk around the U.S.S. Arizona memorial, and it was really cool to be at such an incredible historic place with, well, the Plain White T's. xD And then we saw them in concert the next day, and they sang Sunlight at one point. I wasn't too familiar with that song before I heard it at the show, and now I love it. Hence why I put it in here.

And if you don't believe me, I promise this really happened. I have photographic evidence, if you like. My boyfriend's cousin & I got our pictures taken on the boat with Tom Higgenson when he got up to get food (we were conveniently sitting right by the food. xD) And of course I failed to hold an intelligent conversation (but we DID kind of hang out with Tom and Dave at the AZ memorial, and Dave pointed out some turtles in the water to us :D). So it wasn't a total fail. But yeah. I have pictures. Tweet me or something if you want. 

* * *

Chapter 47

_To Kurt, my beautiful, amazing, precious boy_.

I frowned, ripped the page out of my notebook, and tossed it in the trash can next to my desk. Too cheesy. I stole one glance back at Kurt, who was still sleeping like an angel in my bed, then turned my attention back to the fresh page in my notebook. Time to try again.

_To my gorgeous, sweet Kurt, love of my life_.

Ew. That was even worse. I was terrible at putting my feelings for him into words on a page without sounding dumb. I made a face as I tossed that page into the trash can as well.

Finally, after sitting and staring at the next blank page for about half an hour, I thought of a decent enough salutation. It was short, sweet, and honest.

_To my Kurt_.

Across the room, Kurt made a cute little sighing noise in his sleep and turned over. My heart broke when I realized that I only had a few hours left with him before I would have to leave. I forced myself to turn back to my notebook and continue writing.

_I'm watching you sleep. Okay, I know that sounds incredibly creepy. But I woke up early this morning and decided I should probably get these last-minute thoughts down on paper before I go._

_I wish you could see how beautiful you look right now. My heart is absolutely overflowing with all the love that I feel for you. It just hit me that starting later today, I won't be able to look at you whenever I want. Almost a year later, and I still can't believe that someone so perfect actually exists. Not only that, but he's_ _mine__. You __are__ perfect, Kurt, and I will never take you for granted._

_I'm going to miss looking into your warm, loving eyes and getting absolutely lost in them. I'll miss kissing your soft, sweet lips and feeling you smile as you kiss me back. I'll miss running my fingers through your hair - which looks perfect whether or not you spend half an hour styling it in the morning. I'll miss your smile and the way it can quite literally light up an entire room. I'll miss holding your hand and feeling it fit perfectly with my own. I'll miss holding you in my arms and feeling you so close to me. I'll miss your beautiful body and watching the sexy way you completely fall to pieces with just a simple touch of my fingertips. But more than anything, I'll miss just being__ with you, because I am never happier than I am when I'm with you._

_I wish I could put into words exactly how I feel about you, but that's impossible. You are too perfect for words, Kurt. No matter what happens while I'm gone, I will always __love you. Nothing can ever change my feelings for you...I will love you until the day I die. This is not goodbye. This is a new beginning for us. If anything, it will make us grow even closer. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, right? :)_

_I promise I'll try and come home and visit as often as possible, but worst case scenario we always have Skype and texting, so we'll still be able to talk and "see" each other all the time. And when I do __get to come home and see you, it will be so incredibly worth the wait, I can't even tell you. You're worth waiting a lifetime for, Kurt. (Okay, that sounded dumb. I should probably stop talking now.)_

I glanced at the clock on my bedside table and realized that we only had about half an hour before my mom was coming to pick me up and take me to the airport. Oh. Okay. That was great. I decided I should probably wrap things up.

_Well, I should probably start getting dressed and ready to go, but I also need to wake you up ;) Please never forget how much I love you, Kurt. You are my world. Even though I'll be in New York, my heart will remain here...with you._

_All my love forever,_

_Blaine Darren Anderson._

I folded up the sheet of paper (well, sheet_s_, plural, since it had gone on to take up two pages) and wrote Kurt's name followed by a little heart on the front folded half. Then I set the note face-down on top of my suitcase so he wouldn't see the front and ask about it just yet, and headed back towards my bed to wake him up with a soft kiss.

Kurt's eyes slowly drifted open and he smiled beautifully when he saw me.

"Hi," he said softly.

"Hey there." I returned his smile and gave him another kiss. "Come on, we need to get up. You're coming to the airport, right?"

"Are you kidding me?" Kurt giggled and sat up, cupping my face gently between his hands. "Of course I am." He pressed his lips against mine again in a soft but passionate kiss.

Just like every kiss I shared with Kurt, this one didn't last nearly as long as I would have wanted it to. I could spend the rest of my life kissing him, and I would still want more of those lips. But I had to break away so that we could get dressed and ready to go.

We took our time getting ready. I couldn't help stealing an occasional glance at Kurt as he slipped into the Lady Gaga t-shirt he'd bought at the concert and a pair of tight skinny jeans (if Kurt _had _to wear pants, I figured, I preferred _those _pants). He grabbed his bottle of hair gel and headed into my bathroom when he was finished changing, and I was left standing alone in the middle of my bedroom. This was the last time I'd ever see this as _my _room, I realized all of a sudden. I could hear Kurt humming a tune to himself as he fixed his hair in the bathroom and felt a sudden pang of heartbreak. Hearing _him _just exemplified the fact that this room was _mine_...well, _was _mine. Suddenly I didn't want to leave, but I knew I had to.

Kurt came out of my bathroom with his hair all slicked up and gorgeous. He wore a wry let's-get-this-over-with smile on his face; it seemed that he was dreading this as much as I was.

"Ready to go?" His voice broke the slightest bit on the last word.

I reached out for his hand and stared around the near-emptiness of my room for a few more seconds.

"Yeah," I said quietly after a moment. "Might as well get going."

…

The final head count of people who showed up to see me off at the airport ended up being six, if you included Chris in his baby carried. My mom drove Kurt and I there, and once we got inside by the check-in desk we were met up by Burt, Carole and Finn, who had come to see me off as well. I was pleasantly surprised to see them there. Ever since we'd been together, Kurt's family had been nothing but welcoming and friendly to me. I'd always felt like I was an honorary member of their family, in a way.

I checked my bags, then we all made our way to the security checkpoint where I would have to say goodbye. Once I got to the concourse I would find Wes, since we'd ordered tickets for the same flight, and talk to him in order to get my mind off the fact that I really missed my family. And Kurt. I still had to give him the note I'd written this morning.

We all stopped a little ways away from the security checkpoint. I was the only one who would have been allowed to go any further, so it was time to say our goodbyes.

"Can I...," I slipped away slightly as my mom began to open her mouth to say something. "Can I have a moment alone with Kurt?"

Kurt, whose fingers were laced into the spaces between mine, squeezed my hand.

"Absolutely," my mom said sincerely.

I led Kurt a few yards away from the rest of the group and over towards the wall so that we were out of the way. Once we were alone, I looked into his beautiful eyes for what would be the last time in months.

"Here." I pulled the note out of my pocket and handed it to him. "Read this when you get a chance, okay?"

Kurt nodded. "Okay," he whispered. His voice sounded choked with tears he was probably trying not to cry.

"Hey." I took him in my arms while blinking away tears of my own. "Anytime you need me, I'm just a text away. Just because I'm going to be in another state doesn't mean I won't be there for you when you need me."

"I love you," was Kurt's simple, quiet response.

I held him closer, trying to memorize the way he felt in my arms.

"I love you, too," I whispered.

Kurt reached up and placed both hands gently on either side of my face. He gave me a tender, lingering kiss that said more than spoken words ever could.

He broke away with a smile and reached into his pocket. I gasped when I realized he had taken out my iPod.

"Where did you get that?" I asked incredulously. "I packed it yesterday afternoon."

"And I unpacked it," he said, pressing the iPod into my palm as he handed it off to me. "I put a little video on there that I want you to watch. It should start playing right when you turn the iPod on. Don't watch it until you're on the plane, though. And when I say 'on the plane,' I mean 'after the plane has taken off and the flight crew has announced that passengers can use approved electronic devices.'"

I couldn't help but laugh a little bit as I pulled him back into another hug. "Oh, Kurt, I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too," he murmured. "But I'm happy for you. I'm so excited that you get to take such a huge step in your life. Speaking of which...," he slipped out of my arms and took my hand, "we should probably get you back over to your family so you can say goodbye to them. It's getting close to when your flight boards."

I sighed, but kept smiling as he lead me back to where everyone else was standing.

It was tough to say goodbye to the rest of them, especially to Chris. Yes, he was only a few months old and had no idea what the heck was going on, but he was my baby brother. I picked him up out of his baby carrier and spun him around a little bit, which was something he was starting to like. Chris giggled and smiled, both of which he'd started to do a lot of lately. My mom said his smile looked like mine, but I didn't see how she could say that seeing as how Chris didn't have any teeth yet.

"You're the man of the house now, okay?" I told him with mock seriousness as I set him back in the baby carrier. "Take care of Mom for me." I leaned down and kissed him gently on his tiny forehead, then stood back up to give my mom a long hug goodbye.

My mom babbled for a long time about how proud she was of me and I think she might have been crying a little bit, but it was hard to tell. Eventually it got to the point where I realized that I really had to get going and get a place in the security line, so I gave her one more hug and kiss on the cheek. I hugged everyone in Kurt's family one more time and gave Kurt one last kiss before I finally made myself pick up my carry-on bag and walk away without looking back.

"_Finally_," Wes sighed with exasperation when we met up on the concourse at our flight gate. "I saw you making out with Kurt on my way to security. I thought you were about to miss the plane. They already called our boarding group, but I was waiting for you."

"Oh, well shit." I picked up my carry-on, which I had just set down, and we started making our way down the jetway to get onto the plane. "And we were not making out, by the way."

"_Sure_," Wes joked, rolling his eyes. "I'm surprised you didn't stuff him into your suitcase and bring him along."

I winced. "Being shoved into a suitcase doesn't sound pleasant. I wouldn't do that to Kurt."

"Of course you wouldn't," Wes commented sardonically as we stepped onto the plane and he began to shove his carry-on into the overhead compartment. "Damn. They said this was small enough to take on the plane..."

I smirked as I slid my own carry-on easily into the compartment next to his, then took my seat and clicked the safety belt into place.

Wes glared down at me. "Fuck you." With one more massive shove, he finally succeeded in pushing his bag completely into the compartment.

We chattered a bit about NYU and our expectations for college life in general as we sat there waiting for the plane to take off, but I was mostly just anxious to get in the air. I wanted to watch the video Kurt had put on my iPod. As stupid as it sounded, I missed him already. I wanted to watch it and feel like I had a part of him with me.

Finally, though, the plane actually got off the ground. After about ten minutes, the flight attendant's voice came over the loudspeaker and announced that the use of electronic devices was now allowed. I immediately whipped my iPod out of my pocked and shoved the earbuds into my ears.

Sure enough, a new video started playing as soon as I turned on the iPod. Kurt was sitting in his bedroom, looking right at the camera that had been set up in front of him.

"_Hi, Blaine_," Onscreen Kurt said, smiling and waving a little bit. "_So tomorrow you're going to be gone, off to college. I'm so excited and happy for you, you have no idea. I wasn't surprised when you got the full ride, but that doesn't make me any less proud of you._"

He smiled just the tiniest bit and leaned closer to the camera.

"_I love you so much, Blaine. And I would be lying if I said I'm not going to miss you, but like I just told you, I am __so__ excited for you and I can't wait to hear about all the amazing experiences you're going to have in college._"

"Oh, Kurt," I whispered, not even caring that I was speaking out loud. Wes overheard me, but all he did was roll his eyes and shrug before turning back to Angry Birds.

"_Anyway_," Kurt said on the video with a cute little giggle, "_I wanted to let you know that no matter what happens, I'm always here to love you. You can call me at three in the morning or whatever. I don't even care. If you need me, I will __always__ be here for you. But as I was thinking about this, I realized that I don't just want to __tell__ you this. I want to sing it to you._"

He smiled again onscreen, but this was more of a shy smile. I think I even saw him blush a little bit.

"_So I hope you like it_," he said, then began to sing.

"_When the storm won't end_

_On your raging sea_

_When you've all but given up_

_Float back to me_

_When the waves come down_

_And your arms get weak_

_When you're tired of bailing out_

_Float back to me_."

Kurt was looking at the camera the whole time while he sang, but it didn't seem intimidating or anything at all. In fact, it almost seemed as if he were right here, singing to my face. I turned up the volume on my iPod and let his beautiful voice consume me.

"'_Cause I can see sunlight through my window_

_If you open your eyes you'll find your way back_

_Sunlight through my window_

_If you open your eyes you'll find your way back home_."

I had tears in my eyes already. He was so beautiful, everything about him. Just the way he simply looked at the camera while he sang reaffirmed that he meant every single word of the lyrics.

"_When you're all alone_

_Stuck in the dark_

_When you've lost your way in life_

_I won't be far_

_When the seasons change_

_And you fall apart_

_When the winter chill is near_

_I won't be far._

'_Cause I can see sunlight through my window_

_If you open your eyes you'll find your way back_

_Sunlight through my window_

_If you open your eyes you'll find your way back home_."

As he moved on to sing the bridge, his voice swelled to a powerful crescendo that made me absolutely melt. Kurt had a gorgeous voice in all senses of the term, but when his voice soared up to those high notes...it was like magic.

"_Baby, can you hear me?_

_Come home_

_Baby, I need you near me_

_Come home_..."

Upon beginning the final chorus, Kurt switched into a powerful key change, half a step up, that was not part of the original arrangement. Chills raced through my entire body. Kurt could do things with his voice that most other vocalists could only ever dream about.

"'_Cause I can see sunlight through my window_

_If you open your eyes you'll find your way back_

_Sunlight through my window_

_If you open your eyes you'll find your way back home_."

He slowed it down with a decrescendo as he ended the song, a small smile on his face as he sang the last few lines.

"_Well it's lonely now_

_In this hotel room_

_And these sheets are empty, love_

_Waiting for you_."

"_I love you, Blaine_." Kurt was speaking normally now, rather than singing. "_And I never want you to forget that you always have me to come home to_." He blew the camera a kiss, then waved. "_I'll see you in a few months_."

I blinked a few times as the video - and Kurt - faded to black on the screen. My eyes were wet. I _was _crying. And I didn't even care. I had the sweetest boyfriend in the world, and that was the only thing that mattered to me at the moment.

I pushed up the window screen that had been covering the glass and gazed out over whatever state we were flying above. It was early morning, so the sun was still on its way up. I smiled and leaned my head back, finding it oddly amazing that I _could _see sunlight through my window.

I pressed Play on my iPod to replay Kurt's video. After seeing it and hearing him sing to me, I was feeling a lot better about things and excited to start this new chapter in my life.

* * *

So I just thought I should give you all a heads up. I'm ending this on chapter 50. 


	48. Chapter 48

To everyone who was asking, yes, I was serious when I said I'm ending this on chapter 50. I think 50 is a nice, even number to stop at. I've been working on this story since December and I think its time is up. I'm so appreciative of all the support you guys have given this and I can't thank you enough for that, but I do have another Klaine multichapter in progress called Lessons in Being a Man which I'm still working on. I actually like that story a lot better than this one. It's a future fic, and there is a bit of Kurtofsky at the beginning (which I know can be a turnoff to some people), but it gets so much better once Kurt ends up with Blaine, I promise. I also love that one because Daddy!Kurt is so much fun to write and I think Ellie Hummel is officially my favorite OC that I've ever created. So yeah. If you haven't read that one, you should start now that this one is almost done. xD

Now that I'm done whoring out my own story, I would just like to say that Blaine is an idiot in this chapter. He's a sweetheart, but he's also an idiot. He makes a decision that is not something I personally would do, but he's kind of a cheesy hopeless romantic. Song is by 3 Doors Down. :) 

* * *

Chapter 48

College life, once I got used to it, was pretty awesome, I had to admit. All my classes were a ton of fun and although I was used to the whole living-at-school thing thanks to Dalton, something about living at _this _particular school was different. Maybe it was the fact that I was in New York City, somewhere I'd been dreaming of all my life, instead of just in Ohio where I'd lived for the past eighteen years. But I think it had more to do with the fact that here, I was actually working towards my lifelong dream of being a performer. It was something I thought about all the time whenever I was sitting in my advanced music theory class or even singing a few runs in the shower (a frequent habit of mine, much to the annoyance of Wes). _Wow, this is real. All of this is actually happening to me_.

I missed Kurt, though. I missed him terribly. It killed me, not being able to see his beautiful smile or kiss him whenever I felt like it. We still talked all the time...we texted all day and I called him every night, but occasionally we would substitute the phone call for a Skype session if neither of us had much homework. Skyping always left me with a bittersweet feeling - as much as I loved being able to see his face, all I wanted was to reach out and touch him, and I couldn't do that.

I was already planning to come back to Ohio at the end of September to surprise him for our one-year anniversary. Until then, though, I settled for occasionally surprising him with little impromptu concerts on our Skype dates. Every so often I would just reach over and pick up my guitar, then sing and play something for him. Kurt loved it. Sometimes if I was lucky, he would sing to me, too.

Since Kurt obviously wasn't around, I spent most of my time hanging out with Wes and some of the other friends I'd met in some of my classes and whatnot. Most of the people here seemed pretty cool, so it wasn't too hard to make new friends. Wes, who had broken up with his girlfriend over the summer, was loving the fact that there was an ample female population at this school after being trapped in the testosterone haven that was Dalton Academy for four years. This didn't really make any difference to me, for obvious reasons. For whatever reason, though, there were always girls that tried to hit on me and I didn't really understand that. But I had to admit, it was fun watching their faces when I told them I had a boyfriend.

The greatest example of this unrequited female affection probably happened on the day I made the most spur-of-the-moment decision of my life. It was the day after Wes (who had always been one of the youngest guys in our grade) turned eighteen, and he convinced me to go with him to get a tattoo.

Wes's dad had died when he was thirteen, so Wes wanted to get a tattoo in honor of his father now that he was of age to do so. It wasn't going to be anything big, just his dad's initials on the inside of his wrist, but Wes had a suppressed fear of needles that sometimes bothered him so he convinced me to come along. He said it was because we'd known each other since we were five and I was the only one who had never laughed at him because of his fear. It was true, so I figured I may as well go with him just for the heck of it.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked him as we stepped into the tattoo parlor that windy September afternoon, not wanting him to chicken out and make a fool of himself at the last minute.

"Yeah," Wes said. "I want to do something special for my dad, so I can have a reminder of him with me all the time. I'm pretty sure I can handle the needle just for a little bit."

"Okay...," I said, not quite sure if I should believe him.

I awkwardly hung back as Wes explained to the lone tattoo artist inside the tiny room, a heavily-inked twentysomething woman with lots of black crap caked on around her eyes, what he wanted to do. I didn't miss the way she kept eyeing me instead of really looking at Wes while he tried to talk to her. She was looking at me like I was something to eat, which made me kind of uncomfortable. The only person I liked to look at me like that was Kurt, because then it was kind of sexy. Anyone else looking at me like that just felt weird.

Wes must have noticed the way the tattoo girl kept trying to eyefuck me, because he took the liberty of introducing me as "my gay friend Blaine, who has a boyfriend named Kurt back in Ohio who he's in love with" in an attempt to be helpful. I bit my lip and awkwardly looked at the floor as I braced myself for the potential slurs that could have possibly been hurled my way. I knew Wes was trying to help and get her to stop looking at me like that by mentioning the gay thing, but neither of us knew what this chick thought about that kind of stuff. She could have been a secret devotee of the Westboro Baptist Church, for all we knew.

But Tattoo Girl just giggled as she got all her tools ready to ink Wes up. "Oh, that's sweet, good for you," she said to me. "Is he as cute as you are? Oh, I bet he is. Cute gay boys always end up finding other cute gay boys. It's precious."

"Um, thank you." I really wasn't sure how to respond to that, so I settled myself down in one of the chairs against the back wall as Tattoo Girl started doing something to Wes's arm to get him ready for the needle. I saw his face tense up as he braced himself.

As I sat there watching one of my best friends get a few letters permanently inked into his skin, it got me thinking. I remembered what Wes had said earlier about specifically wanting a tattoo of his dad's initials: _I want to do something special for my dad, so I can have a reminder of him with me all the time_. And I got to thinking that maybe that wasn't such a bad idea.

I had known for a long time now that Kurt was the most important aspect of my life. We'd been through hell and back together, but somehow we'd made it out alive. Now that we'd been together for almost a year, I wanted to do something drastic to commemorate the life-changing twelve months we'd spent together.

I know a lot of people probably think that getting your boyfriend's name tattooed onto your skin is a stupid idea. You're probably like, "But Blaine, what if you two break up?" Honestly, that's something I'd rather not think about, but even if that happens (God forbid) I know there's no possible way I'd ever be able to stop caring about him. Having his name on my skin forever will just be a reminder of how much we overcame together and how much stronger he'd made me. How he saved my life. I thought it might be nice to have a little reminder of all these things with me all the time.

As I reminisced, I blankly stared at Tattoo Girl pressing the needle into Wes's arm and moving it to form the letters. All I could think about was that night after we'd been attacked when I woke up in the hospital, not knowing who or what the fuck I was. I remembered seeing the beautiful boy in the bed next to me and being instantly put at ease by his sweet smile. Over time, said beautiful boy would show me how to live again and help me find myself. I'd regained most of my memory from before the attack, so I could now recall the first time I'd met Kurt and other situations like that, but none of them seemed so potent as when I woke up in the hospital bed, terrified until I looked into his gentle, loving eyes.

"Is there anything else I can do for you two?"

Tattoo Girl's voice suddenly snapped me out of my nostalgic daydream. Wes was still sitting in the chair, staring at his wrist with a proud smile on his face. I must have been spacing out for a long time, considering the fact that she was already done with him.

"Uh, yes please." I stood up from the chair where I was sitting, not even thinking about what I was doing. "I want one too."

"Blaine, what the _fuck_?" Wes squinted at me in confusion.

"Don't laugh at me," I told him, then turned to Tattoo Girl. "I...I was wondering if I could get my boyfriend's name."

She laughed a little bit. "You sure you want to do that?" she asked. "A lot of people really regret doing that when they break up."

I winced at the thought of that. "Kurt and I have been through so much together," I told her, getting the feeling that I was about to have a deep personal conversation with a tattoo artist I'd known for less than an hour. "He's literally saved my life on more than one occasion. And we've been together for almost a year now, I'm actually going down to Ohio to surprise him for our anniversary in two weeks...I think it would be a really awesome way to commemorate our love."

"This dude here is the biggest sap, I swear to god," Wes informed Tattoo Girl under his breath, well aware of the fact that I could hear. But then he smiled and added, "He really does love this guy, though."

Tattoo Girl looked like she was considering all this, but she smiled at me and handed me a thick binder full of tattoo designs.

"Here," she said, flipping to a page with different lettering styles. "Look through these and let me know which one you like. What's his name, again?"

"Kurt," I told her as I glanced over the different styles. "K-U-R-T. I think I like this one the best." She looked over and I pointed out a simple but gorgeous cursive style.

"Okay." She nodded and reached for a notebook, then proceeded to sketch out the design with the quickness and accuracy of someone who had been doing this for years. "How's this?"

I looked at the sketch and immediately knew I loved it. It was small and simple, but looked incredible all the same. I hoped Kurt would love it just as much as I did.

"It looks amazing," I told her honestly.

"All right, let's do this!" She certainly sounded excited. "Have a seat. Where do you want it?"

"On my chest," I told her. "Over my heart, if you can. Is that safe, or...?"

"Blaine asks really stupid questions sometimes," Wes explained matter-of-factly.

"Shut up, I didn't really do much research on this type of stuff other than the time I Googled 'what happens when you get a tattoo' and sent you those links because you have that weird thing about needles," I reminded him.

Tattoo Girl laughed. "It's perfectly safe," she explained. "The needles only penetrate the skin, nothing deeper, so it's absolutely fine."

I knew it would probably sound really cheesy if I said this out loud, but I wanted it on the left side of my chest as a reminder to Kurt that he always had a special place in my heart. I wasn't going to tell either of these two that, though. I would only tell Kurt when I showed it to him in person. Yeah, so Wes was right. Maybe I _am _a sap. But I love my boy, so who cares.

"Okay," I said after she'd reassured me that it was safe and I wasn't going to die or anything. "Yeah. I'm gonna do that."

I unbuttoned my shirt as she got all the equipment and inks set up. I was feeling strangely calm about this. I didn't know if it was because I didn't have the same paranoid fear of needles as Wes did. Maybe it was because I knew I loved Kurt and I was willing to have his name on my skin for the rest of my life as a symbol of that, despite the fact that I'd made this decision pretty quickly.

Before I knew what was happening, Tattoo Girl was rubbing some ointment on my skin and then _holy shit that was the needle_.

"Sweet holy mother of _fuck_." I ground my teeth together and grasped the armrests of the chair so tightly that my knuckles turned white. Suddenly I remembered we were in mixed company. Tattoo Girl didn't even flinch as she continued inking Kurt's name onto my chest, but I turned to her and smiled apologetically anyway. "I'm sorry."

She shrugged the tiniest bit, not even looking up. "I've heard way worse, trust me."

The pain didn't let up the entire time. I gave up on making polite small talk with Tattoo Girl after a little bit and instead stared up at the ceiling and let Kurt take over my thoughts. He was, after all, the reason I was doing this.

_…_

Later that night, I was sitting in my dorm on my laptop, trying to type up a paper that was due in two days and that I'd known about for three weeks. I had less than a paragraph written. Wes was out at dinner with some girl from his filmography class. Since he wasn't around to blast Dubstep at full volume (he claimed it helped him concentrate; I told him it had the opposite effect on me), I was taking advantage of this precious alone time to finally get this damn paper done.

But of course I had to be signed in to Skype. And of course I had to see that little box pop up in the corner of the screen: _KHummel527 is online_.

Without even thinking, I clicked back over to the Skype window and called him. I had the sudden urge to see the boy whose name was now permanently written on my chest. I thought I'd sing to him tonight, since I'd been perfecting a new song that fit our current situation perfectly. As I waited for him to accept the call, I wheeled my desk chair across the room and grabbed my guitar.

Kurt looked adorably flustered when he answered the call. His hair was in its natural bangs and wet, meaning he'd probably just gotten out of the shower. He seemed happy to see me, as evidenced by his adorable smile. He looked so gorgeous that my heart literally ached for him. I wanted him with me.

"Hi!" I couldn't even explain the things his voice did to me whenever I heard it. He giggled. "This is a nice surprise."

Yeah. The tattoo had definitely been a good idea. I fell more and more in love with him every second I spent merely looking at him.

"Hey, Kurt. I figured talking to you would be more fun than working on my stupid English paper." I smiled at him. "Plus, I needed an excuse to see your beautiful face."

Kurt blushed. I wished I could reach through the computer and just touch his face, but I couldn't. "You don't have to say that," he murmured. "I know I look terrible right now. I just took a shower, my hair is a mess and I haven't moisturized yet."

"And you still look flawless even from 500 miles away," I said sincerely. I saw him open his mouth to protest this, but I held up my hand to stop him. "I'm not going to let you argue with that, because it's true. How is my flawless boyfriend doing?"

Kurt rolled his eyes but smiled. "I'm good," he said. "Senior year is crazy so far with all the homework, but I'm getting used to it. Sometimes I go home on the weekends so I can go over to your place and babysit Chris. He can sit up on his own now, as of last Saturday."

I felt something grab at my heart when he said that. Sure, I'd seen the pictures of my little brother that my mom posted on Facebook almost every day, but hearing Kurt say that made me realize how much of his life I was missing. I knew I had to go to college and whatnot, but it killed me that I couldn't be there to watch him grow up like a normal brother.

"I miss him so much." I pouted a little bit. "I miss you, too."

Kurt's face was overcome with sadness. I wished I could kiss it all away. "And I miss you," he said. "I miss being in your arms and cuddling with you and kissing you whenever I feel like it...like right now, I feel like kissing you but I can't and it makes me sad." He sighed. "And it's so...bittersweet. I'm so happy for you, being at college, but then I'm sad that you're not here. And then I get mad at myself because I feel selfish for wanting you here with me all the time."

"You're not selfish, baby. You're being way too hard on yourself," I said gently, then suddenly reached for my guitar. "Will you feel better if I sing to you?"

Kurt smiled, mostly with his eyes. "I might."

I quickly tuned the guitar before starting to play the opening chords.

"I've been working on this one over the past few weeks, and I love it because it pretty much says exactly how I feel in this situation," I said as I played. "I love you so much, Kurt. This is for you."

Kurt somehow managed to bite his lower lip and smile and be completely adorable all at the same time as I finished up the instrumental intro and began to sing.

"A hundred days have made me older

Since the last time that I saw your pretty face

A thousand lies have made me colder

And I don't think I can look at this the same

But all the miles that separate

Disappear now when I'm dreaming of your face."

Kurt was already blinking really fast like he always did whenever he was about to cry. It always amazed me how I, Blaine Anderson, could do this to somebody so perfect. He pressed his lips together in a tight smile, not showing any teeth.

"I'm here without you, baby

But you're still on my lonely mind

I think about you, baby

And I dream about you all the time

I'm here without you, baby

But you're still with me in my dreams

And tonight it's only you and me."

Kurt inhaled a deep, shaky breath as I played the short interlude before the second verse. He was doing a very good job of composing himself; I couldn't see any tears yet. It didn't make sense to me, how my voice always brought him to tears - but then again, his voice had the same effect on me and Kurt didn't understand that either, so I guess it was fair. Neither of us really knew our own strength.

"The miles just keep rollin'

As the people leave their way to say hello

I've heard this life is overrated

But I hope that it gets better as we go, oh yeah

I'm here without you, baby

But you're still on my lonely mind

I think about you, baby

And I dream about you all the time

I'm here without you, baby

But you're still with me in my dreams

And tonight it's only you and me."

Yeah, I know, the word "girl" was supposed to be in there somewhere, but I took that out for obvious reasons. Back when I was still practicing this song, I'd tried substituting "boy," but that had just ended up sounding stupid. I ended up just taking the word out altogether since the song still sounded fine without it and the flow wasn't interrupted or anything.

"Everything I know, and anywhere I go

It gets hard but it won't take away my love

And when the last one falls

When it's all said and done

It gets hard but it won't take away my love.

I'm here without you, baby

But you're still on my lonely mind

I think about you, baby

And I dream about you all the time

I'm here without you, baby

But you're still with me in my dreams

And tonight it's only you and me."

I kept looking into Kurt's eyes through the computer as the last chord of the song faded out. He looked like he was trying really hard not to cry, but when he spoke I could hear the tears in his voice.

"Oh, Blaine." He laughed despite his tears. "That was lovely. How is it that you can do this to me from two entire states away?"

"I like singing to you," I said, shrugging one shoulder. "As long as you like it, I'll keep doing it."

Kurt nodded. "I love it. Thank you so much." He smeared his tears off of his cheeks, and I couldn't help but think that if I could be with him right now, I would have kissed said tears away. Then again, if I were with him right now, there would have been no reason to sing that song to him.

"I love _you_," I reassured him softly. "I wish I could be with you more than anything in the world right now. I wish I could hold you and feel you so close to me in my arms."

Kurt tilted his head to the side and smiled thoughtfully. "What else would you do if I was with you right now, Blaine?"

Suddenly I knew exactly where this was going. Whenever he looked at me like that, his expression nothing but faux innocence, I knew it was his coy little way of getting me to start talking dirty to him. Kurt loved that. He could talk pretty dirty himself, too. Believe you me when I say that Kurt Hummel is not the sweet, pure, innocent boy that he seems like all the time.

"I would give you a kiss right in the middle of your forehead," I said, starting off slowly. "Then I would kiss your cheeks, your nose, your eyelids...I'd basically be kissing you all over your face, and you would smile and say something adorable that I can't think of because I'm not adorable like you."

"Oh, shut up, yes you are." Kurt exemplified his adorableness by sticking his tongue out. "Continue, please."

Gladly. "I would look into your gorgeous eyes - much like I'm doing now, except there wouldn't be computer screens and 500 miles separating us. Then I would kiss your lips, softly and slowly at first, then escalating into urgent and passionate. You would open your mouth to let me taste more of you and I would, drawing out the kisses so I could savor you for as long as possible."

I could see Kurt shiver the tiniest bit as his eyes fluttered closed. "Oh, Blaine, please keep going."

"I would move my mouth down to your neck...the skin there is so smooth and soft. I'd gently sink my teeth into you and suck on your skin as I marked you as _mine_. You would start making those hot, needy little whimpering noises like you always do when you're turned on. I would kiss the hickey I made on your skin, and then I would take my mouth off of you so I could pull your shirt up and off over your head."

"Blaine," Kurt said suddenly. "Now that you're talking about shirts, I'm going to have to stop you right there."

I blinked, slightly confused. "Okay."

Kurt smirked deviously. "Have you happened to notice what shirt I'm wearing, Blaine?"

I had not. I squinted at the screen a little bit. Kurt sat there on the other side with a tiny expectant smile as he waited for me to figure it out.

"That's mine," I said when I recognized my own Warblers t-shirt. It was hard _not _to recognize that shirt, I couldn't believe I hadn't caught it earlier. It was dark gray with a large black fermata on the front, underneath which was text that read _Hold me, I'm a Warbler_. We'd gotten them a few months before Kurt transferred, and he liked them so I had given him mine since he didn't have one.

"It is," Kurt said, his voice suddenly lower and more seductive. "I'd also just like to point out that it's the only thing I have on."

Suddenly I felt my jeans growing incredibly tight right around my crotch. I knew this was what he'd been trying to get at. This was going to be interesting, considering how I would have to find a way to keep my own shirt on. I wasn't going to let him see the tattoo until I surprised him in person two weeks from now.

"Hold on just a second," I called to him on the computer screen as I stood up and grabbed my baseball cap from where it hung on the post at the foot of my bed. Wes's little system was about to come in handy. I headed across the room and opened the door so I could hang the cap on the doorknob, then locked it and headed back over to the computer where my sexy boy was waiting for me. My stupid English paper would just have to get done tomorrow.


	49. Chapter 49

Hi. So um. Longest chapter so far. O_O I did that on purpose because this is the last *official* chapter of this story. I'm still going to update this one last time because I'm planning on writing a cute little epilogue thing that I'm actually really excited for. I know I'm super late in updating, but I just started school last week and my life has been crazyinsane because of it. Not only am I behind on updating like everything, but I'm also behind on reading which is really pissing me off. A ton of my favorite stories have been updated lately and I've had pretty much zero time to just sit down and read them all. So that's my next priority. And then I promise I will get crackin' on updating more of my own stuff.

I made a mash-up for this one. I'm so proud of myself. Never tried creating my own mash-up so hopefully it didn't turn out to be a fail of epic proportions. I thought these two songs kind of went together pretty well. Other than that, this has a little bit of everything. A whole lot of fluff, but there are some smutty bits thrown in there. It's smuffy. Yeah. I'll just say that.

Also I would just like to say congratulations to Chris Colfer for reaching 1 million Twitter followers. Congrats, Chris. One million awkward people (myself included) care about the awkward things you tweet. :) ...not that he'll ever read this. If Chris or Darren or any of the other lovely Glee people were to stumble across any of the various crap (read: fanfictions) I've written, I would be handed a restraining order.

Happy Klaineversary (SpellCheck just asked me if I wanted to change that to "Anniversary." It knows). Yay.

* * *

Chapter 49

My flight was booked. My schedule for the weekend was clear. In no time at all, I was going to be with my boyfriend of officially one year again and he didn't even know it yet.

Everything was perfect.

An hour and a half before my flight to Columbus was scheduled to leave, I was sitting in the backseat of a taxi driven by some foreign guy who drove in such a way that made my life flash before my eyes every time he slammed on the brakes. I was going to be lucky if I even made it to the airport alive.

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket, so I fumbled around for it as the taxi took a dangerously sharp turn. One glance at the caller ID screen told me that it was Wes. That was good. As long as Kurt didn't call me, I would be okay. Knowing my luck, I would probably end up telling him that I was on my way home to surprise him and ruin everything. I had always been terrible at keeping secrets, so I didn't want to slip up.

I answered the call and pressed the phone to my ear. "Hey man."

"Hey Blaine. You're not at the airport yet, are you?" Wes asked.

"Nope." I glanced out the window to see where we were. "I think we're close. What's up?"

"Oh, uh, nothing, I was just checking the flight statuses online," he said warily. "Bad news, dude. Looks like you're delayed two hours."

I clenched my teeth in an attempt to prevent myself from cursing, but to no avail.

"_Fuck_. Fuck, fuck, fuck." I squeezed my eyes shut and reached up to run one hand through my hair, resisting the urge to rip it out in frustration. "No. It can't be. I _have _to see him."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Wes said apologetically. "Just thought I should warn you. Says right here: United Flight 205 to Columbus is now delayed until 5:05 p.m."

As soon as he said this, I exhaled a huge sigh of relief. "Wes, that's the wrong flight. I'm on Southwest."

"Oh." I heard him click on something through the other end of the line. "Well, in that case it looks like you're still on schedule. Sorry about that."

"No big deal, I just kind of had the crap scared out of me for a second," I said flatly. "Kidding. It's all good."

"Alright, if you say so." He laughed. "Hope you have a safe flight. And have fun with Kurt, tell him I said hi."

"Will do," I told him. "Talk to you later."

Wes said goodbye and I hung up the phone. The second the call ended, I glanced at the home screen of my phone and noticed that a little red notification had popped up over the Facebook app. I touched the screen to see what, exactly, I was being notified of.

_Kurt Hummel tagged you in a post_.

My heart started beating faster the second I saw his name. I still couldn't believe I was just hours away from seeing him for the first time in months. Even more incredible was the fact that I'd now been with this amazing boy for an entire year - the first of many years we would spend together. I had his name permanently inked onto my chest to prove it, and I couldn't wait for him to see it.

Before I could get too sentimental, I decided I should probably read what he'd posted. What I then proceeded to read was the longest but also the sweetest status I'd ever seen on Facebook.

_One year ago today, I went on what I thought was going to be a simple, friendly dinner date to Breadstix with my best friend. I had no idea that at the end of the night, we would be boyfriends. Over the past 365 days __Blaine Anderson __has changed me for the better in more ways than I can count. I fall more and more in love with him every single day. We've overcome so much together in the past year, but having him by my side through it all has made everything bearable. Even though it was tough at times, it's been the best year of my life...and all because of him._

_I love you, Blaine. It's literally killing me inside that I can't be with you today of all days. Thank you so much for everything. Happy 1 year. :)_

I knew I had some idiotic smile on my face the entire time I'd been reading his status, but I didn't even care. I commented back to him right away even though I knew he wouldn't be able to read it right away. It was Friday afternoon, and if I remembered Dalton's class times correctly, there were still about two more hours of classes before the weekend officially began. By the time he was out of class, I would be in Columbus. The timing couldn't have been more perfect.

_I love you SO much, Kurt. This has been the best year ever for me as well. I'm so thankful to have spent an entire year with the most amazing boy on the planet...here's to many more :)_

I posted the comment, unable to stop smiling. I barely noticed the taxi driver's total inability to drive for the rest of the way to the airport. My mind was a little bit occupied with thoughts of my Kurt.

…

I'd made excellent time. When we landed in Columbus, I had enough time to stop home to pick up a few things and also say hi to my mom and Chris. Seeing my little brother again made me so happy, but it also made me realize how much of his life I'd missed in the few months I'd been gone. His first tooth was starting to come in and he was just beginning to teach himself how to crawl. Now that he was a little bit older, I was starting to see some of myself in him. He had the same dark curls I'd been born with and his eyes had changed from blue (as newborns typically have) to a hazel that was similar to my own.

After I spent a little bit of time with my family, I decided that it was probably time to head over to the hotel I was taking Kurt to tonight and drop my stuff off there. I was immediately glad that my mom hadn't sold my car because after my less-than-pleasant experience back in New York, I didn't think calling a cab would be a good idea. Plus, this would make everything much more intimate. Just me and Kurt driving around together, without the awkwardness of a chauffeur or cabbie hanging on our every word.

The hotel wasn't too far away from my house, which wasn't too far away from Dalton. Everything seemed almost too good to be true. It only took me about half an hour to drive to the hotel, drop my stuff off, and finally make my way to Dalton where I parked in the visitors' lot. I'd finally made it. Kurt was somewhere on this same campus. I was minutes away from seeing his beautiful face again.

I signed in as a visitor at the main office building, where the kind middle-aged secretary remembered me and told me I didn't have to wear a visitor's badge because everyone here knew who I was. (Her words, not mine.) I blushed and took one of the _Dalton Visitor_ stickers just in case.

Once I stepped back out into the cool fall air, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Kurt. He was living in the same residence hall we'd been in last year, which was on the other side of campus from the main office so I had a ways to go.

Kurt picked up before the first ring on the other end of the line had completed.

"Blaine, oh my god." He sounded like he was about to cry, but I heard a smile in his voice. "Hi."

"Happy one year," was all I said, smiling to myself as I walked across the center of campus.

"Same to you," he told me, but his tone changed when he continued. "Hey, um, what are you doing? It sounds like you're out of breath."

Crap. I'd been walking too fast and somehow he'd overheard me trying to catch my breath. I scrambled for an explanation.

"Oh, I'm just going for a walk around campus." As far as Kurt knew, I was talking about NYU's campus. "It's gorgeous out today, I love this fall weather."

"So do I!" Kurt responded with the kind of enthusiastic tone that meant he was about to share something exciting. "I just went shopping the other day and got a whole bunch of new scarves for fall. They're amazing. Skype me sometime and I'll model them for you."

"Oh, uh, I can't Skype now because I'm not in my dorm," I said stupidly, suddenly getting nervous. "I'd love to see, though. I bet you look amazing."

Kurt laughed. "I didn't mean right now, you dork. I have Warblers practice in 45 minutes, anyway."

I stopped right where I was walking. I knew everything was too good to be true.

Warblers rehearsal. How could I forget about Warblers rehearsal? It had been every weekday at four o'clock sharp for as long as there had been such thing as the Warblers. And now that Sectionals were fast approaching, rehearsal would be of the utmost importance. I couldn't believe it. I'd thought I'd scheduled everything so perfectly, and of course this would happen.

Well, I thought, I was already here, so I might as well go surprise Kurt. Maybe he'd let me tag along to rehearsal so I could say hi to the rest of the guys. Maybe they'd even give me a sneak peek of one of their numbers for Sectionals. Who knew. I started walking again.

"Blaine? Are you still there?"

I suddenly realized I hadn't said anything for a few seconds.

"Yeah, I'm still here," I reassured him. "How are the Warblers? You guys pumped for Sectionals?"

"I would be a lot more pumped if New Directions wasn't our main competition again this year," Kurt said dryly. "I love being a Warbler, and singing lead vocals is actually really fun, but they're my friends, y'know? I feel weird competing against them."

As he was saying all this, I had caught sight of the residence hall I'd been looking for and started sprinting towards it, trying not to breathe audibly so that he wouldn't ask why I suddenly seemed even more out of breath.

"Yeah, I can understand that," I said as I stepped into the lobby of the dorm building. If I'd had more time I would have liked to stick around and reminisce about the place, but there was no time for that. Kurt was only a few floors above me now. I pressed the button for the elevator.

"Hey, what was that?" Kurt asked before I got a chance to say something else. He must have heard the little _bing _noise made by the elevator, which was loud enough to wake the dead.

"Oh, I'm back at my dorm now," I told him as I stepped into the elevator. "The elevators in our building are almost as loud as the ones at Dalton. That's probably what you heard."

"Oh my god, the ones here are ridiculous." I could tell just from Kurt's voice that he was rolling his eyes. "It's always annoying when guys come back really late and I'm trying to study or something. I can literally hear it all the way from my room down the hall."

The doors slid open to empty me out onto the third floor, where Kurt lived. Once again, the _bing _noise sounded loudly through the halls.

"Like I literally just heard it right now," Kurt added.

"Yeah, I remember how loud those things were," I said as I paced quickly down the hall, looking for his room number. "I definitely don't miss that. But there _are _a lot of things at Dalton that I _do _miss."

I was right in front of Room 316 now. This was it. Kurt was just on the other side of the door.

"Really?" There was that smile in his voice again. "Like what?"

Instead of answering, I held the phone away from my ear and covered up the earpiece with my hand so he couldn't hear me knocking on the door through the phone.

"Hold that thought, someone just knocked on my door," Kurt said. He must have been walking towards the door as he said this to me through the phone, because I could hear his voice getting closer and closer from the other side.

I sucked in one last deep breath and kept the phone pressed to my ear as I saw the doorknob turn from the outside.

The seconds that passed in between the turning of the doorknob and the time the door actually swung open seemed to last a lifetime. I was immediately knocked breathless when I finally saw him. Kurt looked amazing - well, that's an understatement, he actually looked more than amazing. His gorgeous eyes were bright with excitement, his beautifully pale skin was as flawless as ever, and I had the distinct pleasure of watching my favorite smile grow onto his face as his expression turned to one of intense pleasant surprise.

I smiled and hung up my phone. "I was going to tell you who I missed the most, but now I don't miss him anymore because he's right here."

Kurt hung up his phone as well and tossed it carelessly on the bed. He was trembling as he stepped into my arms.

"Blaine, oh my god. Oh my god. You're here. Blaine. _Oh my god_." Kurt was in tears by the time my arms were wrapped completely around him. He buried his face in my shoulder, which was probably difficult seeing as he was a little taller than me, but he managed. He inhaled deeply, breathing me in, and let it out as a content sigh.

I gently tilted his face up so I could look him in the eyes. "You really thought I was going to let our _one-year anniversary _pass without seeing you?"

He smiled through his tears of joy. "I...I don't know...I just wasn't expecting..."

Suddenly he cut himself off and reached up to gently caress my cheek. "Let me touch you. I need to make sure you're real and not just a figment of my imagination, some kind of wishful-thinking type of thing."

I leaned my face into his touch and smiled. "I thought the same thing when you opened the door. I couldn't believe it was actually _you_. I thought I was imagining things." I lowered my voice down to almost the level of a whisper as I continued. "But then I realized that my brain isn't creative enough to conjure up such perfection on its own, so you had to be real."

Kurt had managed to stop crying but when he responded, his voice was weak with more potential tears. "I missed you so much," he whispered.

"I missed you, too," I murmured as I pulled him in closer. "Wait a second. Why am I not kissing you? I've been dreaming of your lips since the day I left, and now they're right here."

Kurt giggled. We were pressed so close together that the motion of his laughter sent vibrations tingling through my body.

"Well, I'm not going to take this for granted." His voice was low and almost seductive. "I have the sexiest boy in the world right here, and he wants me just as much as I want him. I'm going to take full advantage of this."

The second the last word left his mouth, his full, supple lips were on mine for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. At first, the kiss was nothing but beautiful simplicity as his mouth moved with mine in perfect synchronization. But the longer we kept this up, the more we both realized how much we'd missed this.

Without breaking the kiss, Kurt pushed his door shut and gently guided me further into the room. I felt the backs of my knees hit his bed and let myself fall down onto it, pulling him down on top of me. Once we were horizontal, I felt him smile against my lips. He'd missed this just as much as I had, which was nice to know.

"Usually at this time I'm getting ready for rehearsal, but right now I have other priorities," he breathed, running his hands down my chest. I trembled under his touch even though he wasn't actually touching my skin. "I'd really just like to take a moment and make up for lost time, if that's okay with you?"

His voice rose innocently at the end of his statement, making it a question. As he spoke, he pulled back slightly so he could look at me with wide eyes and one raised brow. Also, as I happily noticed, his full lips were already swollen from kissing.

"Jesus, Kurt, that is so okay with me that I can't even tell you." I breathed a sigh of surrender and placed one hand on the back of his neck to gently pull him down for another sweet kiss.

Kurt smirked as he reciprocated the kiss. "If you can't tell me, why don't you show me?"

"I will." Immediately after saying this I flipped us over so now I was on top of him. I gently pushed his mouth open with my tongue and he let me taste him, moaning softly into my mouth the whole time. He brought his long legs up and wrapped them around my waist to pull me down even closer against him. A rush of adrenaline surged through my entire being at the sensation of being so wrapped up in him like this. I was home.

"Mmmm. I could definitely get used to another year of this," Kurt gasped breathlessly as I moved my mouth to his neck and gently sunk my teeth into the soft skin. "And more."

"More years, or more than we're doing right now?" I murmured as I kissed the mark I'd created on his skin. "Because more years would definitely not be a bad thing. And this is fun, but when you think about it...we're only just getting started."

"Both," Kurt giggled as I kissed up his jawline towards his ear. "But seeing as how I want to be with you forever, I don't think we'll have a problem making that work."

I nibbled on his earlobe a little bit which only made him giggle even more. "God, I missed you."

"I forgot how good this feels," Kurt sighed with content. "Just being with you like this. There's nothing that could even compare to how this feels."

I moved my face over his and our lips were just about to touch when suddenly I felt something vibrating in between us.

"Oh my god," Kurt mumbled as I rolled off of him so he could reach his phone in his pocket. He frowned as he read a text message. "I have to go. Thad just texted me, rehearsal is starting."

"Shit, Kurt, I'm so sorry." I sat up on the bed as he slipped his shoes on. "I knew I should have waited to come see you after rehearsal was over."

"No, you're fine!" he reassured me with a smile. "Come to rehearsal with me. You're a Warbler alumni, so you're allowed to be there. Plus, I'm sure the rest of the guys will be really happy to see you again."

I rolled my eyes but returned his smile. "If you insist..."

"I insist." He grabbed my hand and pulled me off of his bed. "Let's go, I'm already late."

We ran across campus together hand in hand and reached the building where the Warblers had always held rehearsal in no time. When we burst through the heavy wooden doors of the rehearsal room, the rest of the guys immediately turned to stare at us.

Nick, who had been leading vocal warm-ups with Jeff, rolled his eyes when he saw that Kurt had arrived. "_Finally_...oh my god, Blaine."

"So _that's _why Kurt was late. Nothing new there," Nick said, laughing as he walked back towards me and gave me a hug. "Nice to see you again, dude."

"No, wait, we have to make sure!" Jeff called back to him with a mischievous smirk. I'd missed these two and their antics.

Nick squinted at both of us as he looked us over, then suddenly his eyes widened in realization. "Hickey! Kurt's got a hickey! I _knew _it. You guys were _always _late to rehearsal last year because of each other."

"We were not _always _late," Kurt mumbled, blushing a little bit as he made his way up to the front of the room where Nick and Jeff had just been standing.

"For those of you who don't know what's going on - which is basically all you freshmen and other newbies - this is Blaine Anderson. He was our lead singer last year and now is at NYU on a full ride. He's also Kurt's boyfriend," Jeff explained, and I waved to the collective group.

"Of exactly a year, as of today," Kurt added with a smile. "That's why he's here, he came home to surprise me for our anniversary. Anyway. Is everyone warmed up?"

"Everyone but you," Nick told him as I took a seat on the edge of the room so I could watch. "We were just finishing warm ups when you guys got here."

Kurt responded to this by opening his mouth and effortlessly belting out one of his signature high notes on a neutral syllable. It was quite possibly the highest note I'd ever heard him sing, and I'd heard him get up there. I knew for a fact that he could hit high F - and I didn't have perfect pitch like he did, but this sounded even higher than that.

"Okay, never mind, sounds like you're warmed up too," Nick mumbled.

"I was singing Bohemian Rhapsody in the shower this morning. As of two days ago, I can finally get up to the high B-flat on the third 'for me.' I've been working on that note for months. That's what that just was." Kurt explained all of this as if it were something normal people had the ability to do.

"Dude can sing like Freddie Mercury. We're gonna _own _Sectionals," I heard someone say.

"Freddie didn't sing that note in the actual song. Roger Taylor did. He was the drummer," Kurt pointed out. He _would _know that.

He turned and smiled at me. "Blaine, would you like to be the first person besides us to hear our opening number with which we are going to own Sectionals? I don't go nearly that high, but I still think we do a hell of a job."

Would I ever. "Yes please. I mean, if you guys don't mind letting me hear it." I shrugged.

"We don't mind, trust me." Kurt spoke over the rest of the guys, who were already starting the a capella intro to the song, as they moved into formation. "This is a mash-up of two Top 40-ish songs such as you would have probably sung. The best of both worlds for us."

He took his place at the center of the formation and began to sing, starting off with a few "hey"s and "yeah"s as the Warblers continued laying down the beat. All of a sudden I realized what song it was. I never would have been able to imagine Kurt singing this song, but then I realized that was silly because Kurt could literally sing anything. This was just evidenced when he began to really sing the first verse.

"It's you and me moving at the speed of light into eternity, yeah

Tonight is the night to join me in the middle of ecstasy

Feel the melody in the rhythm of the music around you, around you."

Okay, so I hadn't been completely lying to myself just a few seconds earlier - this was one of the last songs on earth I could have imagined Kurt wanting to sing. But he seemed to genuinely be having fun with it. He smiled right at me as he continued.

"I'ma take you there, I'ma take you there

So don't be scared, I'm right here baby

We can go anywhere, go anywhere

But first it's your chance

Take my hand come with me..."

Then, in the true spirit of a mash-up, he transitioned smoothly to a completely different song within the very next line. The Warblers, who had never done a mash-up in the time I'd been with them, handled the transition amazingly as they picked up into a completely different beat.

"Cause boy you got my heartbeat runnin' away

Beating like a drum and it's coming your way

Can't you hear that boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, bass

Yeah that's that super bass

Got that super bass boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, bass

Yeah that's that super bass."

I was loving this - the whole mash-up of these two particular songs - more than I probably would have thought I ever would. And Kurt was still smiling the entire time; it was evident just from watching him that he was having so much fun. I would definitely have to come home again for Sectionals to watch them do this for real.

"Boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, he got that super bass

Boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, he got that super bass."

Then all of a sudden everything stopped. The rest of the Warblers stopped harmonizing in the background and fell completely silent as Kurt sang the next few lines totally a capella.

"See I need you in my life for me to stay

No, no, no, no, no I know you'll stay

No, no, no, no, no don't go away"

As he continued the hook, the Warblers slowly and quietly began to re-enter the song with some low harmonies that I could immediately tell were going to build up to something awesome.

"Boy you got my heartbeat runnin' away

Don't you hear that heartbeat comin' your way

Oh it be like, boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, bass

Can't you hear that boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, bass"

He picked back up into the chorus but some of the other Warblers harmonized into a medley right over the guys who were still singing the backup vocals to Super Bass. A third of them had reverted back to the first song and mixed in that beat with a few lyrics from that one thrown in there as well, which actually sounded pretty sweet.

"Boy you got my heartbeat runnin' away - _forever ever ever, forever ever ever_

Beating like a drum and it's coming your way - _forever on the dance floor_

Can't you hear that boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, bass

Yeah that's that super bass

Got that super bass boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, bass

Yeah that's that super bass"

They moved into one final formation with Kurt front and center once again as they finished the song.

"Boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, he got that super bass

Boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, he got that super bass."

Kurt was still smiling as he finished the song. I immediately stood up from my seat and gave them all a little standing ovation because quite honestly, they'd sounded amazing. They'd managed to take two songs that otherwise would have sounded totally weird coming from an all-male a capella group and make an amazing mash-up with them. Also, Kurt had sounded beyond incredible, but that was unsurprising.

"Oh my god, you guys, that was _amazing_." I spoke to the whole group as I crossed over to where Kurt was standing and picked him up off the ground. He giggled as I spun him around in the air while hugging him. "I'm not even kidding. You guys _are _going to own Sectionals."

"See, Kurt?" Jeff told him. "It was good. And you were afraid you would sound stupid singing Nicki Minaj."

Kurt blushed a little bit. "The boyfriend says it's good, so we're sticking with it."

I wrapped my arm around his waist and pulled him closer so I could kiss the side of his head.

"Okay, I can't even believe I'm saying this," Thad began, "but how about we call it a day? I think we sounded amazing. Plus, it's Friday. Why the hell do we still have rehearsals on Fridays?"

"I dunno, you're the president," someone mumbled.

Kurt took my hand and looked expectantly at Thad as he bounced up and down a little bit with excitement. "So...rehearsal dismissed?"

"Rehearsal dismissed," Thad confirmed, but Kurt was already pulling me towards the door before he'd even finished talking.

"So what are we doing today?" he asked me with a smile once we were out of the building.

I returned his smile and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Anything you want, baby."

…

What Kurt wanted to do ended up being dinner, shopping and a movie. He'd picked the latest horror thriller even though he usually hated scary movies - not because they actually scared him, but because he usually found them incredibly cheesy. I, on the other hand, was the biggest wimp when it came to horror movies. I'm pretty sure Kurt only picked that one because he knew I'd be screaming and burying my face into his chest the whole time while he laughed out loud about how stupid the movie was.

We'd gone to the late showing which meant that after the movie was over and I was sufficiently freaked out, we headed back to the hotel. In the present moment we were lying on the bed, him on top of me as we shared slow, steamy kisses. Both of us were still fully clothed. Trust me, I was surprised at this too - I had thought I'd tear his clothes off the second I got him alone. And I still wanted to do that. But there was no need to rush, because we had all the time in the world tonight. I had every intention of savoring this. Savoring him. I was only in town for a few days, and who knew when we'd have a chance to do this again.

Kurt pulled away from the kiss and looked into my eyes as his hands snaked up under my shirt to touch my chest. The fingers of his right hand were touching my skin right where the tattoo was, and he still didn't know it. Suddenly I was anxious for him to see it.

"Take it off," I gasped.

Kurt gave me another soft kiss without removing his hands from under my shirt. "You're going to have to be more specific than that," he whispered.

"Take my shirt off." I spoke through my teeth, which were clenched in sexual frustration. Then, for good measure, I added, "Then let me take yours off."

"Someone's impatient, hmmm?" Kurt giggled quietly, but all the same he slipped my shirt up and off over my head.

I held my breath as my chest was exposed to him but forced myself to keep my eyes on his face. All of a sudden it hit me that he might not be so crazy about it. What if he hated it and wanted me to get it removed? Granted, I would - I would do anything for him, but I-

"Blaine." Kurt said my name in a broken whisper. He looked up at me with wide eyes and a tiny smile before looking back down at my chest. "Is this...real?"

I nodded and gave him a hopeful smile. "Do you like it? I wanted to get it as a symbol of how you'll always be in my heart. If you don't like it I could-"

"No, no. Blaine, let me talk." Kurt shook his head and smiled up at me, then looked down at my tattoo again and gently traced over the letters of his name with his index finger.

"It's so beautiful," he whispered. "I...I can't believe you did something like this for me."

"I never want you to forget that I'll always love you," I murmured as I ran my fingers through his hair. "I hope this proves it."

"You didn't need to prove it. I already knew." Kurt lowered his mouth to my chest and gently kissed the tattoo. "I gotta admit, though, this is pretty sexy."

"So are you," I said softly as he continued kissing my chest.

Kurt smirked as he moved up to kiss me on the lips. "Can you take the rest of your clothes off and get inside me now, please?" he breathed.

"But I'd rather take _your _clothes off." I pouted a little bit. He was still completely dressed, which was starting to pose a problem.

He laughed and bit my protruding bottom lip, then spoke in a low, seductive whisper. "I don't care how you do it as long as we're both naked and your huge cock is pounding into my ass, okay?"

"I like it when you talk dirty," I whispered as I rolled us over so I was on top of him. "You're a very bad boy, Kurt Hummel."

As I started unbuttoning his shirt, he looked up at me through his long eyelashes. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said innocently. "I'm a good boy."

"Like hell you are." I had already done away with his shirt and was starting to work on the zipper of his deliciously tight skinny jeans. "For one thing, you've been tempting me all afternoon in these pants - which, I might add, leave very little to the imagination."

"Just get me _out _of them," Kurt growled.

I obediently got rid of his pants and tossed them aside. That growl he had...it did things to me that I couldn't ignore. Once his jeans were out of the way, I started kissing my way up his long legs towards his dark red boxer briefs, which were the only thing he still wore.

Kurt growled with impatience again so I decided that now would be a good time to slip him out of his last article of clothing. I was practically incoherent once he was finally naked. My memories hadn't done justice to him at all. He was so beautiful that I couldn't even form an intelligent sentence.

"_My _sexy boy," I murmured, kissing the head of his cock as I pushed his legs apart and stroked the insides of his thighs, occasionally letting the tips of my fingers brush against his balls. "_Mine_. You're all mine."

"_Blaine_." I could literally live on the way he said my name, especially when he sounded so desperate and needy as he begged for me like this. "God, yes, Blaine. I'm your boy. Only yours. Forever. Just take me. _Please_."

I looked up at him from down between his legs. He looked back at me with the most insatiable yearning in his eyes. In that moment, I knew there was no way I could refuse him what he wanted tonight. I was going to give him absolutely everything and more.

"You don't have to ask twice," I whispered, and closed my mouth around him.

…

We slept in extremely late the next morning. Actually, by the time we were both up, it was afternoon. Kurt actually woke up before me, which in all honesty surprised me. I'd worn him out last night, if I had to say so myself, but when I opened my eyes the next day and glanced at the glowing red numbers on the clock that said 12:03 p.m., I could hear him running the water in the shower.

Sure enough, when I stepped out of bed and headed into the bathroom, the shower curtain was drawn and Kurt was presumably on the other side. I had half a mind to step in and join him, but for whatever reason I decided to leave him alone (although that other thought was very tempting). Instead, I drew a heart in the steam on the mirror and wrote _I Love You Kurt Hummel _before smiling to myself and sauntering back out to the king-size bed.

The white cotton sheets had gotten pretty disheveled last night. I lay down right in the middle of the bed and closed my eyes as the memories from the night came floating into my mind. Sex with Kurt was always incredible beyond words, but last night...there was something about last night that made it seem even more special than the countless other times we'd made love. I got the feeling that this had a lot to do with the fact that we hadn't seen each other in so long and we'd used last night to make up for lost time.

I heard the water in the bathroom turn off and my eyes immediately shot open at the sudden noise that had jolted me out of my daydream. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to mentally prepare myself for Kurt, who appeared in the bathroom doorway just a few seconds later wearing nothing but a fluffy white towel around his waist and a dreamy smile.

"I love you too, Blaine Anderson," he said, and dropped the towel in the doorway.

I couldn't even breathe as he started walking towards me, completely naked, looking more like an angel than any human being had a right to. He was so beautiful that merely looking at him literally took my breath away. Not even when he made it to the bed and snuggled up beside me could I believe that this was really happening. I'd been with him for exactly one year and one day, and I still had trouble believing that he was _mine_.

I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closer. "Hi, baby."

"Hi," Kurt said softly as he kissed the skin of my chest where I had my tattoo. "I still love this, by the way."

"I'm glad," I murmured, kissing the top of his head. " So last night was amazing."

"Are you kidding me?" he asked in disbelief. "Last night was _beyond _amazing."

He was speaking the truth. All those things I'd missed so much - the sweetness of his lips, the tight heat of him, the noises he made when he was all strung out and about to climax - all of that and more had made last night one of the single best nights of my life. And now, feeling the soft warmth of his body in my arms, I was content. I wasn't thinking about the fact that I had to leave him tomorrow and go back to school. The only thing of any importance to me at the present moment was right there in my arms.

"I don't know if I could ever explain how much I love you," I admitted softly as I let my legs tangle up with his. "I could try, but it would take me my entire life and then some."

Kurt moved up so he could nuzzle his face against my neck. "Just stay with me forever and we'll call it even, okay?" he murmured. "I want to marry you someday. And I want to have a family. I want a lot of kids. Either adopted or surrogates or maybe a little bit of both, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

I gently lifted his face up so I could look him in the eyes. "I can't think of anything that sounds more perfect than that," I whispered.

Kurt gently touched his lips to mine and kissed me sweetly in the rays of afternoon sunshine that were streaming into our hotel room. I couldn't wait to spend forever with him. If this was what I had to look forward to every single day of the rest of my life, I would take it in a heartbeat. I couldn't wait to wake up beside him every single morning, even when we were both old and gray. Because I knew that even then, I would still think he was so far beyond beautiful.

But we were both young, and we still had our whole lives ahead of us. We were just two boys deeply in love, lying in bed naked and sharing slow, languid kisses to celebrate that we'd just spent the first of what would be many years together. I didn't care about anything except the fact that I held pure perfection in my arms and his name was permanently on my chest as a symbol of the forever that was to come...

* * *

The end. Just kidding. Stay tuned for the epilogue. I already have it planned out pretty much word-for-word in my head, so hopefully it won't take me too long to actually write.

I just typed "right" instead of "write." That means it's time for me to go to sleep. Leave me some reviews, por favor. And thank you so much for reading. One more. :) 


	50. Chapter 50

Guess who's back? (Back again, Shady's back, tell a friend...what, you guys don't like Eminem?) lmfao anyway. I wasn't planning on posting anything quite this soon, as many of you who read my big rant about the Emmys and whatnot (which I have deleted) probably know. I have to admit, I was mad about that. I still am a little bit upset. But for the most part, I was overwhelmed with how many people wrote to me and emphasizing how much they agreed with me. One of the recurring themes I noticed in all these messages, though, was the whole idea that I shouldn't let ignorant people stop me from doing what I love. I thought that was a very valid point, hence why I'm posting this final chapter of Offensive Innocence at 1:22 a.m. on Friday, September 23, 2011. So I just wanted to thank everybody for that.

I got very little negative feedback (I think like two out of the 42 total reviews), but both of those were unsigned anonymous commenters. First of all, I'm just going to be blunt: if you're going to criticize me, at least have the decency to put your name on the damn review. Unsigned inflammatory criticism just makes you look like a scared little bitch (excuse the language, but I told you I was going to be blunt). If you're going to post stuff like that (and both were particularly rude, by the way) then grow a pair and own up to what you post. Otherwise I'm just going to assume you're a coward.

Also (and I'm sorry for going off on a tangent here), one of the anon cowards went off on this whole big shpeel about "freedom of speech!" and "people can tweet what they want!" Okay, Coward Anon, by posting that you're just showing me that you know nothing about the First Amendment. Yes, we as Americans are guaranteed the freedom of speech/press/petition/religion/assembly, but with that freedom comes responsibility. The First Amendment does NOT protect speech that is of deliberately malicious, harmful, or violent intent (such as the death threats to which I was referring in that post). Teenagers have been arrested for cyberbullying on Facebook and whatnot because they posted things that were of that nature. But from Coward Anon's point of view, those bullies who tell kids online that they're fat and ugly and should kill themselves...those bullies should be allowed to "post what they want!" because of "freedom of speech!"

I'm not trying to get down on the whole freedom of speech idea, by the way. As a writer and journalist, that particular provision (along with freedom of the press) is extremely important to me and I consider myself to be a strong supporter of it. But like I said, with freedom comes responsibility. Hell, I can recognize that and I'm 17 years old.

So the point of me saying all this is just to emphasize that if you're going to talk shit to me, (a) put your name on it and (b) make sure you have your facts right if you want me to take you seriously at all. Otherwise I'm just going to laugh at you because you don't know what you're talking about and you look stupid. Which is exactly what I did. I legit LOLed at both Coward Anons.

This has been a rant :) Thanks again to the 40 nice people. I wish I could give you all a hug and a lifetime supply of Red Vines.

Aaaaaaanyway. This is the last chapter/epilogue! It takes place several years into the future and half of it is from Blaine's point of view, while the second half is told through Kurt's eyes and takes place a few days after Blaine's part ends. I'll probably post more rambling crap at the end, but for now I'll let you read since I've already wasted enough of your time.

* * *

Epilogue

_November 2018_

BLAINE

I'd entertained the idea in my head for a while now, but I hadn't actually verbalized it until I was back at my mom's house one night, eating dinner with her and Chris.

"Just tell us, Blaine," she said with an expectant smile as she slid a plate of garlic bread onto the table and took a seat. "What's the big news that you couldn't tell us earlier? I've been so anxious all day to hear it."

I laughed as I twirled a strand of spaghetti onto my fork. "Mom, we've barely even started eating."

"I know, I know, I'm just excited." She laughed a little bit.

There had been a perfectly good reason why I hadn't been able to tell her my big news until now, and that reason was Kurt. We lived together in New York City but we'd come back to Ohio for the week. Kurt, as one of the big head honcho fashion director guys at Vogue magazine (his official job title was so long that I could barely say it in one breath), had to attend some seminars. He was currently at one this evening. When he was finished, he was going to meet me over at Burt and Carole's house where I told him I'd be watching Monday Night Football with his dad. I was planning on heading over there after I finished having dinner with my mom and brother, but watching football was the least of my priorities at the moment. There was another reason I had essentially invited myself over to the Hudmels' - yes, I'd told Burt I thought it would be fun to watch the game while I waited for Kurt to get done with his fashion seminar thing, but I had a bit of a hidden agenda, if you will. And I was about to spill everything to my mom and Chris.

"Okay." I let out a deep breath and set my fork down, then folded my hands on the table. "I, uh...I'm going over to Kurt's folks' place after dinner."

My mom nodded. "I know. You said you were watching the game with his dad until he got home."

"That's not the real reason I'm going over there." All of a sudden my palms had broken out into a cold, clammy sweat. "I was...I'm going to ask Burt if I can propose to Kurt."

There. I'd finally said it. I couldn't believe how relieved I was. Granted, I was still nervous beyond belief but at least now someone knew.

My mom dropped her fork onto her plate and covered her mouth with both hands like she always did when she was surprised. It made me happy to see in her eyes, though, that it was pleasant surprise.

"Oh my god, Blaine!" Her voice was high with excitement. "That's wonderful!"

I let a relieved smile spread over my face. "_Now _do you see why I couldn't tell you earlier? I had to wait for him to leave."

Chris, who was seven, reached for a piece of garlic bread and immediately began picking off the crust. "Mommy, what does propose mean?" he asked.

I didn't think my mom would have been able to stop smiling even if she'd wanted to. "It means your brother is going to ask Kurt to marry him," she explained.

My brother's face lit up. "That's so cool! But why do you have to ask his dad?"

"It's just a courtesy thing - if you want to ask someone to marry you, first you ask their father," I told him. "I want to make sure Burt not only knows that I really love his son and I want to do this right, but also that I respect him as a father."

"Are you giving him a ring?" my mom asked.

"I was planning on it, but I don't have one yet," I admitted. "If Burt says yes and gives me his blessing, then I was planning on going ring shopping tomorrow afternoon because Kurt has another meeting and I want this to be a complete surprise for him. If all goes well, I want to propose to him this weekend."

"I thought you guys were going to Dalton this weekend," my mom pointed out. It was true. Miracle of miracles, our alma mater happened to be hosting its annual Alumni Weekend this coming Saturday. Since Kurt and I knew we were going to be in Ohio this week, we decided it would be fun to stick around for a few extra days so we could go see our former classmates again.

I smiled before answering her question. "We are. I don't know how exactly I'm going to do it yet, but I'd really like to pop the question there."

My mom reached across the table and took my hand. "Blaine, I hope you know how happy I am for you. You and Kurt are a _beautiful _couple. I honestly believe you two were made for each other...and I can't _wait _until your wedding day."

If my heart could have smiled, it would have after hearing her say that. "Thank you so much, Mom. Nothing's official yet, though. First Burt has to say yes, and then Kurt does."

She squeezed my hand. "As far as that goes, I don't think you have anything to worry about."

After we were done eating, Chris and I both helped her clean up the table and load the dishwasher. Then he went out to the family room to watch cartoons and I followed my mom upstairs after she'd told me she had something for me.

"I haven't taken this out for years...," she murmured to herself as she fished through her jewelry box once we were in her room. I couldn't see inside, but I saw her face light up in realization as she found what she was looking for. "Ah! Here it is."

What she took out of the box was a gorgeous ring, vintage from the looks of it. A beautifully intricate design was carved into the platinum band.

"This belonged to my grandfather," my mom explained. "It's been in my family for generations. You don't have to give it to him if you don't want to, but I'd like you to have it."

"It's amazing," I said breathlessly as I slipped the ring onto my own finger. It fit perfectly. I took it off and gave my mom an appreciative smile that probably didn't express even a fraction of the gratitude I truly felt. "Thank you so much, Mom. This is perfect for him...he's going to love it."

"You think so?" she asked hopefully. "I just thought it would be nice for one of you to have."

I nodded. "He loves classic vintage stuff like this. And it fits me, so I'm pretty sure it'll fit him too since our hands are about the same size."

She reached over and grabbed a black velvet ring box off of her dresser, then took the ring from me so she could slip it into the box. I could have sworn I saw her blinking away tears as she closed the box and handed it back to me.

"I'm so happy for you, Blaine," she said softly. "You and Kurt are going to have a beautiful life together."

Shit, now _I _was crying. I stepped forward and gave her an emotional hug.

"Thank you so much," I whispered.

My mom hugged me back for a long time before she broke away with a smile. "You'd better get going. Burt's probably waiting for you to get over so he has someone to watch the game with."

I laughed as I slipped the ring box into the front pocket of my jeans. "If he only knew," I said. "See you later, Mom. Thank you so much again."

"Good luck!" she wished me cheerfully as I gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Even though you don't need it because I know he's going to say yes."

I don't remember calling goodbye to her and Chris on my way out the front door. I don't remember walking out to my car in the driveway, and I don't even remember driving there. But before I knew it, the Hudmels' front door was staring me in the face and the ring box felt heavy in my pocket.

I stood there stupidly for a second. Was I supposed to knock when Burt knew I was coming? It seemed unnecessary, especially considering the fact that I'd been dating his son for seven years now and he was practically already my father-in-law. Still, I didn't want to trip up while I was here to ask him if I could marry his son. I decided to knock.

Burt pulled open the door a few seconds later. He smiled as he greeted me boisterously and stepped aside so I could come in.

"Hey, Blaine, how's it going? You got here just in time, they're about to kick off."

"H-hi!" My voice was embarrassingly high-pitched and shaky. Anyone with any amount of brain cells at all would have been able to tell I was nervous. "I'm doing good, how are you?"

"I'm great. You want anything to eat? I was just about to whip up some nachos."

"I just ate, actually, but I'll probably end up eating some of those nachos," I admitted with a laugh. Then all of a sudden, it hit me. It was now or never. I couldn't wait until we were both absorbed in the game. I had to ask him now.

"Hey, but...um, can I talk to you about something first? Before we watch the game, I mean."

Burt shrugged. "Yeah, sure, no problem. Let's go sit down."

We headed out to the kitchen and sat down at the table - him at the head, me on the side. I took a deep breath and tried to collect myself.

"Okay," I said. "I...uh, I kind of had another motive in wanting to come here tonight."

"Yeah, I figured that. You seemed a little eager to come over just to watch a football game," Burt pointed out. "What's up?"

I hesitated for a second, trying to figure out how I wanted to say this. "I...there's something I wanted to ask you. I'm kind of nervous about it, actually. I-"

Burt cut me off gently. "Just spit it out, Blaine. Get it over with."

"Okay." I exhaled a deep breath and looked him straight in the eyes.

"I was wondering," I began slowly, "if it would be okay with you...if I proposed to Kurt."

Burt just looked at me for a long time while I remained completely frozen in place. I couldn't breathe. I didn't even blink for that seemingly infinite period of time before he spoke again that really probably only lasted a few seconds.

"You want to marry him? Go right ahead. You have my blessing."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, it felt like my internal floodgates had burst open with a deluge of relief. The weight of the world had just been lifted off my shoulders. I was so happy that I felt like I could have walked on water.

"Thank you. Thank you _so _much," I said sincerely. "I...I love your son. He means more to me than I can even describe. I look at him and I see everything that is beautiful and good and perfect and amazing in the world, all wrapped up into one incredible boy." I couldn't help but smile as I spoke. "And...I don't even want to imagine what my life would be like without him."

Burt nodded and closed his eyes for a second. "Thank you, Blaine. Means a lot to hear you saying stuff like that. Now I'm usually not too good at having deep conversations like this, but I _will _say that Kurt...he loves you so much. I can see it in the way he smiles whenever you look at him. And you do it, too. The way you two look at each other - and I'm not the only one who says this, you can ask anyone - it's real obvious how much you two are in love."

I opened my mouth to say more, but all of a sudden the front door opened and someone came into the house from the blustery November wind. Burt and I both exchanged a horrified glance, thinking maybe it was Kurt coming home early, and I quickly tried to scramble for an explanation as to why I was sitting here at the kitchen table with his dad instead of watching the game. But both of us relaxed noticeably when we realized it was only Carole.

"Hi, Blaine!" Kurt's stepmother greeted me cheerfully as she stepped into the kitchen and set the grocery bags she was carrying down onto the table. "What are you two doing out here? I thought you'd be watching the game."

Burt looked at me as we both stood up to help her put the groceries away. "You want to tell her, or do you want to wait?"

I shrugged. "I can tell her. I don't mind."

"Tell me what?" Carole sounded anxious to figure out what was going on.

I smiled at her. "I was just asking Burt if I could ask Kurt to marry me."

Carole gasped as a hopeful smile suddenly appeared on her face. She looked at her husband. "Please tell me you told him yes."

Burt nodded. "I did. I gave him my blessing."

"Oh my god!" Carole immediately wrapped her arms around me to scoop me up into a giant hug. "Blaine, this is so exciting!"

I laughed as I hugged her back. "You literally just reacted the same exact way my mom did when I told her why I was coming over here. I'm _so _happy, though."

Carole let me go so she could finish putting the groceries away, but she didn't stop smiling. "When are you planning on popping the big question?"

"This Saturday," I told her. "Kurt and I are going to Dalton's Alumni Weekend. I thought it would be cute to propose to him somewhere at the school where we met."

"Y'know," Burt commented, stepping closer to Carole so he could wrap an arm around her waist, "I proposed to this lovely lady right here in the exact same classroom at McKinley where Kurt introduced us."

"Kurt introduced you guys to each other at McKinley?" I couldn't believe I hadn't known this.

Carole nodded and smiled dreamily, probably reminiscing. "Parents' Night. I remember like it was yesterday."

"That's perfect," I said under my breath, mostly to myself, then spoke up louder so they could hear me. "I'm going to propose to Kurt on the exact same staircase where we met."

"Oh, how romantic!" Carole seemed almost as excited about this as I was. "Do you have a ring?"

"I do, actually." I pulled the black velvet box out of my jeans pocket and opened it so they could see. "My mom just gave me this before I came over here. It belonged to my great grandfather...it's been in my family for at least a hundred years, probably more."

Burt nodded in approval and said, "Kurt's going to _love _that," at the same time as Carole said, "Oh, Blaine, that's beautiful." I'm not quite sure why, but it made me happy to see that they liked it so much.

"Thank you so much." I smiled graciously as I slipped the ring back into my pocket. "I just really hope he likes it."

Before either of them could respond, the room was filled with the sound of my phone vibrating loudly in my pocket. I quickly pulled it out and glanced at the caller ID screen on the front before answering it.

"Speak of the devil...," I told Burt and Carole with a smirk before answering the call and pressing the phone to my ear. "Hi, baby."

"Hi!" I loved the way Kurt giggled breathlessly whenever he greeted me on the phone. "They let us out early, so I'm on my way home. Are you over at my parents' place?"

"Yeah, I am." I stole a glance over my shoulder at Burt, who must have picked up on the fact that I was talking to Kurt because he was already heading out to the family room to turn on the game.

All of a sudden it hit me. I was talking to the man who, if all went according to plan, was going to be my husband. I hesitated for a second before speaking again.

"Drive safe, okay? It's supposed to start snowing at some point tonight and it's already pretty cold. I'll see you in a little bit." I paused again, though this time I wasn't quite sure why. "I love you."

"I love you too." I could hear my favorite smile in his voice. "See you in a few."

We said our goodbyes and I hung up the phone before announcing what Burt and Carole had probably already figured out.

"That was Kurt," I said. "He's on his way."

"Which means it's time to sit down and pretend we've been watching the game the whole time," Burt said as he came back out into the kitchen. "But Blaine, listen to me. I meant everything I said before about you and Kurt. You're a great guy and I'm honored to say that you'll be my son-in-law someday."

There was no way I could respond to that verbally, so I settled for giving him a smile and a hug. To my surprise, he hugged me back. Burt usually wasn't the hugging type.

"Thanks so much again. For everything," I said sincerely once we broke away from the hug. "I'm gonna make Kurt some hot chocolate for when he gets home."

Carole stayed out in the kitchen while I warmed up some milk on the stove and dug some cocoa mix out of the cabinet. She and I chatted amiably about potential wedding plans and whatnot. I told her that if Kurt was okay with it, I wanted him to plan our wedding because I knew how much he loved doing stuff like that. Carole wholeheartedly agreed with me and proceeded to tell me all about how Kurt had planned her wedding to Burt several years ago. I was so happy to see her as excited as she was. I knew that although she wasn't Kurt's biological mother, she loved him like he was her own.

I let the hot chocolate cool for a little bit before pouring a mug for myself and another for Kurt. I asked Burt and Carole if they would like some; both of them politely declined. I took both mugs out to the family room and set them on the table as I sat on the couch next to Burt.

"Damn Steelers are already ahead," he informed me as I sat down.

I rolled my eyes as I reached over for my mug of hot chocolate and took a sip. "God, I hope we come back and beat the crap out of them."

The next few minutes were filled with similar football banter until the first quarter ended and the station went to a commercial. The timing couldn't have been more perfect because the front door opened at that exact moment.

Burt leaned in closer and spoke just quietly enough so that I was the only one who would have been able to hear him. "Go say hello to your future fiancee, would you?"

My heart started racing the second he said that word. He'd spoken the truth, though. Kurt was going to be my fiancee. Hopefully. I still had to ask him, and he still had to say yes. I had my fingers crossed, though.

"Honey, I'm home!" Kurt called in a spot-on imitation of Ricky Ricardo as I stepped out into the front hallway to greet him. His eyes were bright and there was a noticeable redness coloring his cheeks, probably from the cold. I had barely seen him all day and I was immediately struck by how amazing he looked.

I giggled and immediately wrapped him in a hug to warm him up. "Hi," I said softly.

"Hi," Kurt sighed breathlessly with a smile on his face.

"I feel like I haven't seen you all day," I admitted in a sad voice. "How are you, how was your seminar thing?"

"I'm cold," Kurt murmured as he adorably nuzzled his face into my neck. "The seminar went well. Got a whole bunch of new ideas for some stuff that I'm really excited about. I'm exhausted now, though."

I held him closer and gently rubbed his back. "Come on out and watch the game with us. I made you some hot chocolate."

Kurt picked his head up and smirked at me. "You really think hot chocolate will win me over to the point that I would actually want to watch football?" he asked, then giggled a little bit. "I'm kidding. That's very sweet of you, Blaine. But I'll only watch the game on one condition."

"What condition is that?" I asked him.

Kurt's face melted into the sweetest little smile. "We get to cuddle."

"You are so cute. Of course we can cuddle." I cupped his chin with one hand and brought his face closer to mine. "But I get to kiss you first."

Kurt smirked and tapped his lips with his index finger. "Then kiss."

So I did. I kept it simple - I just held my lips against his and thought about marrying him. This man - this beautiful, amazing, perfect man - still had no idea that I planned on making him my husband. I had half a mind to take the ring out of my pocket and get down on one knee right then and there, but I decided against it. I was going to make this proposal absolutely perfect for him, which required me to put in a little bit more thought as to how, exactly, I was going to do it.

Kurt's face was graced with a beautifully breathless smile as we broke the kiss. "I could never get tired of that. Never in a million years."

"Me neither." I gave him another quick, soft kiss. "Now how about that cuddling?"

"Yes, please," Kurt insisted with a smile as he slipped his feet out of his shoes and hung his coat and scarf up in the closet. "That's another thing I could never get tired of doing in a million years."

We headed back out to the family room. The game had started back up; it was the second quarter now. Burt had relocated himself to the La-Z-Boy and Carole was sitting at one end of the couch to give Kurt and I some room. Both of them greeted him when we came into the room and asked how his seminar had gone.

"It went really well, but I'm so tired," Kurt told them as he settled himself into my lap. "Luckily I was able to convince my boyfriend to snuggle with me." He smiled and cuddled himself closer against my chest; I wrapped my arms around him to hold him there against me.

"That's one hell of a nice guy you've got yourself there, Kurt," Burt pointed out as I handed Kurt the hot chocolate I'd made for him. He took the mug graciously in both hands and tilted it up to his face to take a long sip.

"I know," Kurt said proudly once he'd swallowed. He smiled and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek. "I'm a very lucky man."

From that point on it was extremely hard to focus on watching the game. I was too distracted by the fact that I was holding pure perfection in my arms. Feeling Kurt so close to me and knowing that someday, hopefully, I was going to marry him nearly brought tears to my eyes. He wasn't watching the game either; he seemed content to lie in my arms with his head against my chest and drift off into sleep, lulled by the rhythm of my heart. I knew he was exhausted from his long day, and I had no problem whatsoever with letting him sleep in my arms.

After halftime I realized I was getting pretty tired myself, so I reached for a blanket that was draped over the back of the couch and pulled it over us. Kurt, who was most definitely asleep by now, stirred a little bit and burrowed himself closer against me. I pressed a lingering kiss to his forehead and stroked his hair softly, never once taking my eyes off of him.

I couldn't wait to marry him. I wanted us to be fathers together and raise a family. I wanted to grow old with him. In that moment, as the final few minutes of Monday Night Football played on the TV, I knew I was holding the rest of my life right there in my arms.

Finally, as the fourth quarter drew to a closer, I carefully stood up from the couch with Kurt still in my arms.

"He's completely out," I told Burt and Carole. "I'm going to take him up to bed...I'm pretty tired myself."

"All right," Burt said. He paused for a moment before he continued. "And y'know, Blaine...you're real good to him." He nodded at Kurt sleeping in my arms. "I know it's been seven years, but I'm still glad Kurt found someone like you."

"Thank you," I said humbly, and kissed the side of Kurt's head for good measure. "I'll see you guys in the morning. Good night."

Kurt warily opened his eyes halfway as I began carrying him towards the stairs. "Blaine? Where are we going?"

"Shhh. Go back to sleep. I'm carrying you to bed...I know you're exhausted and you had a long day," I said softly.

A tiny smile was on Kurt's face as he leaned his head against my chest and wrapped his arms around my neck. "Okay."

Since we would be staying here at Burt and Carole's for the remainder of our time here in Ohio, Kurt and I had opted to sleep in his old bedroom which had since been converted to a guest room. That was where I was headed. Once there, I carried him quietly into the room without bothering to turn on the lights and laid him gently on the bed.

I was about to carefully pull the covers down so I could shift him to a more comfortable position under the blankets, but he opened his eyes just a little bit and spoke up. "Blaine."

"Yeah?" I whispered, trying to keep my voice down since he was still obviously mostly asleep.

"Take my clothes off," he insisted in a drowsy murmur. His tired fingers were already attempting to fumble with the buttons on his black vest.

There was nothing unusual about his request. Kurt and I slept naked sometimes even on nights when we didn't make love - and this, in a way, was pretty intimate in itself. We were both comfortable enough with each other that neither of us minded. Tonight, I figured that he'd asked me this because he didn't want to fall asleep in the expensive designer clothes he'd been wearing all day. I gently pushed his hands aside and began unbuttoning him myself.

Kurt was watching me through half-closed eyes with a dreamy smile on his face as I gently slipped him out of his vest and then the long-sleeved white shirt he wore underneath it. I carefully folded up each article of clothing and set it aside before turning back to focus on getting him out of his pants.

"What do you think you're looking at?" I teased as I slid his dress slacks off his long legs. "I thought you were tired."

"I am," Kurt reassured me. "But I don't want to take my eyes off of you for one second."

"I know the feeling. That's how I am with you." I rid him of his boxer briefs, then when he was completely naked I lowered my head so I could press a soft kiss to my name on his skin.

On his eighteenth birthday, Kurt had gone out to get my name tattooed onto his skin just like I had a tattoo for him. My name was inked onto his pale skin in the same gorgeous cursive that marked his name forever above my heart, but Kurt's tattoo was lower down, below his waist. It started a few inches below his right hipbone and went down tantalizingly lower, almost disappearing into that enticing little crease of skin on the inside of his thigh. It had always been my favorite spot on Kurt, and the fact that _my name _was there made it even better. I let my lips linger there for a few seconds.

"Still like my tattoo, hmmmm?" Kurt murmured teasingly as I kissed back up his body. I shifted my position a little bit so that I wasn't completely on top of him, otherwise he probably would have been able to feel the bulge created by the ring box in my pocket.

"I love it. I love being all yours." I spoke with my lips against his skin as I kissed him all over his face except for his mouth. "I love _you_."

"Despite the fact that you are a _huge _tease and you don't seem to want to give me a proper kiss...," Kurt pouted a little bit as he spoke, "I love you, too."

"Now who's being a tease? You know I can't resist those lips, especially when you pout like that."

"Hmph." Kurt stuck out his bottom lip even more to create a bigger pout. Anyone else would have looked ridiculous making that face, but Kurt looked beyond adorable, as usual. He knew exactly what he was doing to me.

"See? Now _you're _the one that's being unfair. Not just the pouting thing...how do you expect me to be able to resist _all _of this?" I gestured to his entire body in all its naked glory.

"Then don't resist. I'm not asking you to fuck me, I just want a kiss." Kurt's voice had a coy little undertone to it that somehow made him even more irresistible. "And then I want you to take _your _clothes off, since it seems a little unfair that I'm naked and you're not. And then I want us to kiss some more. And then I want to go to sleep."

"_Someone's _specific," I murmured. Then, because I couldn't have resisted him any longer even if I'd wanted to, I smiled as I let my lips fall against his.

…

KURT

Something seemed different about Blaine that Saturday morning when we woke up to get ready to go to Dalton for Alumni Weekend. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but for whatever reason he seemed jumpy and skittish. Almost nervous. And most definitely anxious.

He was doting, too. I woke up that morning to a fully prepared breakfast in bed. I could only imagine how early he'd woken up to make everything.

"So what's the game plan for today?" I asked him after I swallowed a delicious bite of chocolate chip pancakes. I'd offered him some - the gesture was very sweet and everything tasted amazing, but he'd made so much food that I seriously doubted I could finish it all - but he had politely refused. "What time do you want to leave?"

"Um, it doesn't really matter." Blaine rubbed the back of his neck, which was something he sometimes did when he was nervous. I filed that away in my brain for possible reference. "We can just go whenever you finish eating and getting ready. No rush."

But despite this, he kept knocking on my door every five minutes as I was getting ready.

"Kurt?"

"Baby, are you almost done?"

"I don't know how crowded it will be...I want to beat traffic..."

"Blaine!" Finally finished, I threw open the bathroom door with a giggle and smiled at him. He'd been waiting just on the other side. "What happened to 'there's no rush'?" I asked gently.

"Oh. I...uh, like I said, there's traffic...there's gonna be traffic..." Blaine stumbled over his words as he spoke, not even blinking as he looked me over. I had to admit, I thought I looked pretty damn good - gray Ralph Lauren peacoat, black Prada trousers and the neutral-tone knit Gucci scarf that Blaine had given me last month, since it was supposed to be pretty cold today.

"Blaine," I said again, quieter this time as I stepped closer to him. "It's a Saturday morning. I doubt there's going to be much traffic."

He blushed. "That's true. I just...I lost my train of thought." He let his eyes sweep shamelessly over my entire body. "You look _amazing_."

Now it was my turn to blush. Seven years later and I was beginning to accept the fact that my heart would pound a little bit faster every time he complimented me, which was often.

"Thanks," I said softly, giving him a tiny smile.

Neither of us said a word for a few seconds. We simply looked into each other's eyes. It was silent, but nowhere near awkward.

"I...I guess we should go," Blaine suggested after a silent moment had passed us by.

"Yeah." I nodded and slipped my hand into his. "Let's get going."

…

Blaine and I ate lunch with our fellow alumni in the exclusive second-floor dining hall at Dalton that was specifically only used on occasions such as this. I hadn't seen some of these guys in years, so it was nice that we had a chance to talk to them again. Well, _I _talked to them, anyway. Blaine barely said a word during the entire meal. He also didn't eat much.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him quietly at one point, my voice so low that nobody else would have been able to hear. I gently reached over and took one of his hands.

Blaine cleared his throat. "Yeah," he said. "I'm fine."

"You seem nervous," I observed, rubbing my thumb in circles over the back of his hand.

Blaine froze for a moment. Finally he mumbled something to himself under his breath that sounded like, "It's now or never," and stood up from the table.

"Come with me," he said to me.

I warily took his hand and stood up beside him, but waited until we were a sufficient distance away from our old friends before I asked him anything.

"Blaine, please be honest with me," I urged. "Are you sure everything is okay?"

He stopped walking so he could look me in the eyes. "Kurt, I promise you, everything is fine."

The little reassuring smile that graced his face let me know he was true to his word. I returned his smile and we kept walking.

We came to a winding staircase. Without hesitation, Blaine started descending it, gently pulling me along behind him. I had to admit, I was slightly confused - I had no idea where we were going. There was nothing I could do but follow him.

When we reached the bottom, Blaine let go of my hand and left me standing on the first step up while he stepped down to the floor. My mouth was already halfway open, about to ask where he was going, but then he turned around.

A massive brick wall of emotions hit me when he turned around to face me on the steps. The memories came flooding back - memories of the very first time he'd turned around to acknowledge me on this exact same staircase. In that moment, as he turned towards me, I could see nothing but the boy I'd fallen in love with so many years ago. That boy had turned around to face me at the bottom of these same stairs when those first few nervous words had left my mouth: _Excuse me. Um...hi. Can I ask you a question? I-I'm new here_.

"Blaine." My voice sounded broken, but I somehow managed to smile. "Sorry for sounding all Rose-from-_Titanic _here, but this is where we first met."

"It is." Blaine nodded, hesitated for a moment, then reached out to take both of my hands. I had no idea what was going on and my heart felt like it was about to pulse right through my chest, but the way he looked into my eyes at that moment made me unable to do anything but just _trust _him.

"Kurt," he stated, and the way he said my name with such emotion and tenderness in his voice just made my heart beat even faster. "Out of all the guys that were walking down the stairs that day - and there had to have been hundreds of them - you chose _me_. There were so many people there. One more split second later and I would have been too far away for you to ask. And...and something tells me that if you had picked any of the other guys and asked _them _your question...we might have never even met." His voice was quiet but firm and broke a little bit near the end. It almost sounded like he was trying not to cry, which of course made _me _feel like _I _was about to cry.

"But I _did _pick you," I whispered. "I don't know if it was intuition or what, but somehow I just _knew _you were the one I had to ask."

He bowed his head humbly for a second before looking up into my eyes again. "And I'm so glad you picked me. _So _glad. Because if you hadn't, then I wouldn't be able to do this."

He took his hands away from mine and reached into his pants pocket. My heart was beating faster every second and I still didn't know what was happening. It didn't really hit me until he opened the small box he'd taken out of his pocket and began to sink down to one knee. Before the words were even out of his mouth, my right hand flew to my chest, over my heart, as if I were trying to keep it from beating straight out of me. My left hand had a vice grip on the railing to keep myself steady due to the fact that my knees felt like they were about to give out. It felt like all the breath had been taken out of my body in one glorious passing second.

"Kurt Hummel." Blaine said my name as a declaration, like there was absolutely no doubt whatsoever in his mind. His eyes stayed fixed on mine to emphasize this. "Will you marry me?"

I had started nodding furiously before he'd even finished speaking. Despite my best efforts to blink them away, I could already feel tears dampening my eyes. I allowed myself to take a look at the ring in the black velvet box he was offering to me. It was platinum, engraved with a gorgeous design, and probably vintage. It was perfect.

"Yes," I said simply. My voice was so weak with tears that I was surprised he could hear me at all.

I could see the relief take over his face the second I accepted. His eyes were shiny with tears, too, as he removed the ring from its box and took my hand. As he slipped it onto my finger his eyes never left mine, but once the ring was in place he brought my hand to his mouth and kissed it. He kept his lips there for a very long time. I placed my free hand on the back of his head and lovingly stroked my fingers through his hair.

Neither of us said a word as he finally took both of my hands again and rose to his feet. I stepped down off the bottom stair so I could stand level with him on the floor. At almost the exact same time, we each pulled the other closer in the most loving embrace we'd ever shared. We stayed there holding each other close for what could have been hours. Neither of us would have cared.

My heart was still racing. How many times had I dreamed of this moment - the moment when I would propose to someone, or when I would be proposed to - and it turned out to be the latter. Either way, it was more perfect than I'd ever dreamed it would be. After a blissful eternity had passed us by, Blaine pulled back from the embrace slightly so he could look me in the eyes.

"Kurt," he said breathlessly. "You're going to be my _husband_."

There was no way I could respond to that. No way at all. I put my hands on either side of his face and pulled him in for an emotional kiss.

Believe you me when I say that kissing Blaine is always wonderful, but this time was even more special than ever before. There's something magical about kissing the man whom one is going to marry, immediately after the proposal.

"I have to ask you one more thing," Blaine said once we'd broken away. "And please don't feel obligated to do this, Kurt. I'm asking you because I think it's something you'd enjoy, but you don't _have _to say yes."

I nodded. "All right, what is it?"

Blaine smiled. "How would you feel about planning our wedding?"

_I would feel absolutely great with that, thank you very much _was my initial thought. But the events of the past few minutes had essentially robbed me of all my coherency, so it took me a few seconds to remember how to talk.

"Oh, Blaine, I'd love to," I said with a breathless smile, then pulled him into another hug. I nuzzled my face into his neck and murmured my next few words against his skin. "I'm going to make this a beautiful wedding for you."

He squeezed me just a little closer. When he spoke, his voice was barely loud enough to be considered a whisper. "Thank you."

All of a sudden I was struck with the overwhelming urge to kiss him again. So I did. He'd managed to hold off his crying up until this point, but this time as we kissed I could feel his warm tears on my face. They were probably mingling with mine. I couldn't even tell for sure but I figured I was probably crying, too.

We pulled away from the kiss and just smiled at each other for a few seconds before Blaine spoke again.

"There's one more thing," he said. "Come with me to the senior commons."

I opened my mouth to respond but once again no words came out. Blaine smiled, winked, and took my hand.

"Come on," he said, causing my brain to be flooded with a deluge of nostalgia. "I know a shortcut."

And so off we went, running through the back hallways hand-in-hand just as we had so many years ago, when I'd only known this boy for thirty seconds. I was surprised I was even able to run. My legs had threatened to melt away from underneath me quite a few times since Blaine had led me to the stairs. As we ran, I couldn't help but stare admiringly at my left hand. I was engaged. I was engaged _to Blaine_. Blaine and I were getting married. Blaine was going to be my husband.

This time, though, when we burst through the doors of the senior commons, nobody else was inside and all the furniture was in place. Suddenly I realized how much trouble he must have gone through to do this for me. He would have had to call Dalton ahead of time and explain the situation so that they could keep everybody out of the senior lounge. _And just when I think I can't love him any more_.

He also must have had somebody come in and drop his guitar off, because I recognized the large black case sitting on the coffee table in front of the sofa. He led me to the couch and we sat down, then he reached out and opened the instrument case.

Without saying a word, he began to strum some opening chords. My heart skipped quite a few beats when I recognized the song that had grown to be a favorite of mine. I literally could not wrap my mind around how perfect he was.

And then of course he had to go and be even more perfect as he began to sing.

"You think I'm pretty without any makeup on

You think I'm funny when I tell the punchline wrong

I know you get me so I let my walls come down, down

Before you met me, I was all right but things

Were kinda heavy, you brought me to life

Now every February, you'll be my valentine, valentine

Let's go all the way tonight

No regrets, just love

We can dance until we die

You and I will be young forever..."

I'd never heard this performed as an acoustic song before, but then again Blaine could do anything with a guitar. I loved it even more than the first time he'd sang it, because this time there was nobody else here - none of the other Warblers, no other students...just us.

"You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream

The way you turn me on, I can't sleep

Let's runaway and don't ever look back

Don't ever look back

My heart stops when you look at me

Just one touch now baby I believe

This is real so take a chance and don't ever look back

Don't ever look back"

I felt the smile on my face growing wider and wider the more he sang. I knew I probably looked ridiculous, but Blaine didn't seem to mind. He kept right on playing and singing like nothing else mattered.

"We drove to Cali, and got drunk on the beach

Got a motel and built a fort out of sheets

I finally found you, my missing puzzle piece

I'm complete

Let's go all the way tonight

No regrets, just love

We can dance until we die

You and I will be young forever

You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream

The way you turn me on, I can't sleep

Let's runaway and don't ever look back

Don't ever look back

My heart stops when you look at me

Just one touch now baby I believe

This is real so take a chance and don't ever look back

Don't ever look back"

I felt myself starting to tear up again and forced myself to blink rapidly. No. I was not going to cry and be a total sap. Not while I was being serenaded with a Katy Perry song...not even a Katy Perry song that was being played acoustically and sung by my fiancee...

"I'm a get your heart racing

In my skin tight jeans

Be your teenage dream tonight

Let you put your hands on me

In my skin tight jeans

Be your teenage dream tonight"

The way he _looked _at me, though. _Okay, maybe I can cry a little bit_.

"You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream

The way you turn me on, I can't sleep

Let's runaway and don't ever look back

Don't ever look back

My heart stops when you look at me

Just one touch now baby I believe

This is real so take a chance and don't ever look back

Don't ever look back

I'm a get your heart racing

In my skin tight jeans

Be your teenage dream tonight

Let you put your hands on me

In my skin tight jeans

Be your teenage dream tonight."

He looked at me with a hopeful smile on his face as the last chord reverberated through the air and finally went silent. I gently pushed the guitar aside and set it on the floor, then crawled into his lap.

"Just think," I murmured, admiring my ring yet again, "this is where it all began - this is _how _it all began - and now we're _engaged_, Blaine."

"You like the ring?" he asked, probably having noticed the fact that I couldn't stop staring at it.

I nodded. "I adore it. It's gorgeous."

"Thanks," he said with a tiny smile. "My mom gave it to me. It belonged to my great grandfather...it's kind of an old family heirloom, I guess."

There's nothing quite like the feeling you get when you realize that the engagement ring your boyfriend just gave you is actually a very expensive antique. "Oh, Blaine..."

"Don't even start. You're worth it," he reassured me with a smile, then took a long look at the ring for himself. "I wonder how much this thing is seriously worth. It would be interesting to get it appraised."

I smiled and ran my fingers through his hair. "Blaine, I don't care how much it's worth. I care that _you _gave it to me, and I care that it symbolizes the fact that one day we're going to be legally bound together as husband and husband." I couldn't help but let my smile grow even bigger. "After everything that happened to us as teenagers...I feel like this is _finally _a chance for redemption."

Blaine looked at me for a long time with a tiny little smile on his face. Then he breathed, "I love you," as he pulled me in for a kiss.

My mind wandered for a bit as I kissed him back. At first, of course, my thoughts were nothing but _Oh my god, I'm engaged _for a few seconds. Then my train of thought headed towards thoughts of weddings and colors for said weddings and locations for said weddings and dates for said weddings. Like I'd told Blaine earlier, I was going to make this a beautiful wedding for him. I had every intention of sticking to my word. He deserved nothing less than the most perfect wedding anyone could imagine.

But finally I made my mind settle on one thing. Blaine. He was, after all, the reason for all of this. I smiled beneath his lips as I reveled in the feeling of warmth and safety that came along with being close to him like this. It made me happy to know that I would get to keep this feeling for the rest of my life.

But the rest of my life was too far ahead of me. At that moment, all I cared about was the fact that my teenage dream has come true.

-fin-

* * *

Yay it's over! And it's actually a huge relief to me because literally I was at that point where I knew I was only going to write one more chapter and I just wanted to get this story over and done with.

I just wanted to say thank you to everybody who has read this. Even if it's just one chapter (because lots of people have told me that they only read the first chapter and then stopped because they decided it was too sad to continue. That's okay. To each their own). But I've honestly gotta say...thank you especially to the people that have stuck with this. Yesterday was exactly ten months to the day that I published the first chapter of this. It's pretty damn long. But for those of you who have taken the time to read the whole thing and leave me feedback, I can't thank you enough.

So...I don't really know what else to say, and it's almost two in the morning now so I can't think of a witty way to end this, so I'm just going to awkwardly stop talking. Reviews are ALWAYS appreciated even though this is the end. Thank you so much again. 


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